


What If?

by EliDeetz



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-08-27 20:39:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8415955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliDeetz/pseuds/EliDeetz
Summary: What if Minerva McGonagall had a daughter? She thought leaving her life in America behind to fill the position as the new Muggle Studies professor would help her abandon every last thread of drama in her life for good. Little does she know about how wizardly like can be just as dramatic, dangerous and, thanks to a certain potions teacher, mysteriously interesting.Rating may change as story goes on, more characters to be added.





	1. The Teacher and The Rude Man

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for clicking on it!
> 
> This is the first fan fiction I've ever written about Harry Potter EVER. I came up with it thanks to a Tumblr post about McGonagall having a daughter teaching at Hogwarts, and I loooove Severus Snape, so why not give it a try.
> 
> Hope you like it!

Of all the things she ever dreamed of doing as a grown up, teaching was the last of them. But when her mom sent her an urgent letter asking her to fill a teaching position at Hogwarts, Elizabeth saw the perfect excuse to leave her boring and monotonous life in America, and start fresh in England.

Muggle Studies wasn't exactly her dreamed subject, but the slow mailing system made it too late for her to apply for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Which, according to her mother, had been taken by quite an anxious and introverted person, last name being something similar to squirrel, who also happened to be the former Muggle Studies teacher. One would guess that, with magic, many things ought to be easier and faster. But even if the only position left at Hogwarts was as a janitor, she would take it without thinking about it twice.

"Harry Potter is coming to Hogwarts this very year?" she asked dumbfoundedly to her mother, while unpacking the last of her luggage in her new office. Despite being barely the brunette's first day in the castle, she could already tell rumors spread awfuly fast.

"Yes he is, dear. But do not get too excited, for your class is an elective for students cursing their third to seventh year," a serene Minerva responded. "Let us not forget he is just a child that's just about to discover the truth about him and this world. Please, help me make this transition for him as normal as possible. Like I tried to do with you, my child," her words seemed sweet but firm, that was the magic of Minerva McGonagall.

"You seem to be pretty confident that the boy will be sorted into Gryffindor. Aren't you, mum?" Elizabeth teased her, turning from her last empty suitcase to Minerva, who gave a face of surprise. "It seems to me that you were thoroughly disappointed when I was sorted into Slytherin."

"Of course not, Elizabeth! You turned out to be magnificent, no matter what house you were in," she immediately responded, not allowing her daughter to laugh. Her face drastically changed into one of nostalgia, "Lily and James Potter were amazing students of mine, I was very fond of them. They took care of you for me during the rise of the war, and I would like to return them the favor." Her gaze lowered and suddenly was completely lost in her own thoughts.

Elizabeth immediately left what she was doing, and ran to her mother. Taking her soft hand between hers and guiding the witch's eyes into her brown ones, she gave her a wide warm smile. "I'm sure you will do an excellent job, mum. Remember I was fifteen when he was born, I'm more than aware that he's a kid. And, I will do anything in my hands to help you."

Without anything else to say, a now smiling Minerva stood up and left her curly haired daughter to finish installing. "Roam around the castle freely my dear, you must learn every floor on, and it's better if you do it on your own. Many things have changed since you came to Hogwarts. You have about a month before classes start, so get going," the witch recommended just before she left.

After a couple of hours dedicated only to accommodating her new office and bedroom, Elizabeth decided to do what her mother had advised. Being barely 8 o'clock, she figured two hours of exploring would be great for a night.

Despite having a good start and always being well oriented, the immensity of the castle was something that had been gravely underestimated. She soon found herself completely lost somewhere down in the dungeons, were the castle was colder and darker. Without having idea of what to do, the only thing that came to mind was ask.... or, yell for help.

"Hello?!" Her voice echoed across the hallway. One could notice she tried to yell without being too loud. "I recall my dorm being somewhere near here," she whispered to herself, but there wasn't much else she could remember from the top of her head. Many years had past, and she had tried to forget many things that happened during her school years.

A couple of minutes passed and she kept walking in a straight line, perhaps somewhere she could see something that seemed familiar and follow the path. But that "somewhere" or "something", didn't appeared to be close. If her sense of time wasn't failing her as well, it was maybe something past eleven.

"What am I going to do?" The question left her lips in a sigh. She was too tired to think about doing anything without bothering others.

"Who's down here?" A deep, silky, but above all, menacing voice called from the shadows.

The lost teacher turned around to see the tip of a glowing wand pointing at her, and as the bearer of it came closer, she could see him more clearly. A tall man, with both dark hair and eyes, approached her. The look on his face was harsh: a deep frown, and his posture showed he was prepared to attack at any moment.

"Hello, good night. I am very, very sorry to bother you, Mr..." The brunette relaxed coming closer to the man, who as soon as he discovered she meant no harm, lowered his wand.

"Snape, Severus Snape" he shortly answered. "I was warned about in intruder in the dungeons. May I know who are you, and what are you doing in here at this time of the night, Miss....?"

"Oh, Deetz! Well, um McGonagall. Elizabeth Deetz McGonagall," she nervously answered. There was something about Severus that kicked her right out of her comfort zone. "I don't know if you've heard yet, but I am McGonagall's daughter. I was just hired for a teaching position in here, and this is my first day in the castle. And well uh, I attended school here but, my mum told me to explore the castle be-before classes started, because so much has changed. But I... well I got lost. Sorry..." she mumbled her words like a fifteen-year old, something she often did when nervous.

The dark-haired man examined the girl standing in front of her before saying anything else. "Yes, I heard of you. And your particular interest in filling the Defense Against the Dark Arts position," he said in a flat voice, with a hint of annoyance in it. "I know where your office is, let us go now." Without another word or a signal that she should follow, he began to walk completely opposite to where she was going.

"We do not have all night, Miss Deetz. I still have things to do," he raised his voice without turning around. Which made the new teacher dash to be right next to his side. "You better pay attention to which path we are taking, Miss."

"Yes, sir." It was completely ridiculous, she felt like a damn student.

It wasn't long until they were right in front of her office. A sigh of relief left her chest after spending all of the ride back in complete and utter (uncomfortable) silence. She took out the small key that opened the lock, and before entering she turned around to the man that helped her.

"Thank you, Mister Snape. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for you," a kind smile adorned her face in gratitude.

"No need to call me Mister," was his response as he turned around. "Next time you decide to take a late-night exploring adventure, take someone with spare time that can help you get back to your office when you get lost again. That way, you won't bother others in the middle of the night. Have a good stay, Miss Deetz." He walked away without saying anything else.

The look in Elizabeth's face was indescriptible. How dare he? How can a person be so rude to somebody they just met?

She closed the door behind her, still trying to process what the hell was wrong with that person. Yet, she couldn't ignore the goosebumps that his voice and poise caused in her. Severus Snape was definitely an interesting, yet awfully rude man. A common combo if you asked her.

The long haired woman tucked herself in bed after changing into her pajamas. The thought of Severus Snape invading her mind before falling asleep. "I hope I don't ran too often into him, that bitter man." She hissed, covering her head with a pillow, forcing her mind to think about anything else.

* * *

A line of merciless sunshine settled across the brunette's face. She opened up her eyes slowly, the unknown room that surrounded her made her stand up in surprise. It only took her a couple of seconds to remember where she lived now. The clock on her nightstand marked 7:15, so she decided to take a quick shower before going to the Great Hall at eight, like her mother told her to be.

The way to the bathroom and back was easier to remember, quickly finding herself on the way to the Great Hall just a couple of minutes before eight o'clock. The delicious smells of the food guided her from her office to the hall, but she still found herself confused about which way to go.

"Your breakfast meeting is at the end of that hallway, madam," a distant and soft spoken voice made her turn around, where she found a tall, pale, grey-haired floating man behind her. "Oh, how rude of me, I didn’t meant to startle you. My name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, at your service," the ghost kindly introduced himself.

"Sir Nicholas, it's me Elizabeth. Elizabeth McGonagall." Her wide smile hoped to be enough for him to recognize her.

"Oh, dear Merlin! It is you, how much have you changed! For a second I thought I was hallucinating, you see. I've spent so many years here, sometimes the kids seem to have the same faces for centuries." Nick opened his arms widely as a welcome, being unable to touch her.

"Yes, one can imagine. I'm gonna start working here, Sir Nicholas. I hope we can see each other more often."

"The feelings are mutual, my dear. Now run to your meeting, one must always be punctual," he said before turning around and disappearing into thin air.

"Are we stalling, professor Deetz?" The same hoarse voice that haunted her since last night came from the hallway adjacent to the one she was standing in.

"Not at all, professor Snape. I just happened to ran into Sir Nicholas on my way to the Great Hall," she quickly answered, deciding this time she wasn't gonna act like a student. The woman straightened her back and stiffened her shoulders without thinking about it. That rude man had no idea with who he was messing with.

"Well, then. Shall we?" Severus invited her to walk next to him with a hand gesture. "I'll make sure you don't get lost on your way there," he spat in the most sarcastic voice he could, it was like he just couldn't keep it to himself.

Without a response, Elizabeth walked side-to-side with Severus, the same uncomfortable silence grew between them. Thankfully enough, the Great Hall was only a couple of steps away from where they ran into each other. The teachers table was already filled, Elizabeth and Severus seemed to be the only ones that were missing.

"Ah, just in time," Dumbledore whispered to Minerva, who was sitting right next to him. "Please, take your seats, let the meeting begin." He said to the arriving teachers.

Severus seat was at the other side of the table, which allowed Elizabeth to enjoy her breakfast even more, since she wouldn't have to deal with his bitter face everytime she turned to the side.

"While classes haven't started yet, I was looking forward to having you all together at last so I could introduce you to our newest member of the staff." Dumbledore's soft and warm gaze turned to Elizabeth, who stood up nervously in response. "Perhaps some of you remember her when she attended Hogwarts. Elizabeth Deetz McGonagall is, as many of you already know, our dear Minerva's daughter. And, from this moment on, our new Muggle Studies teacher." The old wizard clapped softly, inviting the rest of the teachers to do so as well.

All of the teachers quickly followed, except for Severus, who did nothing but stare at her as if he was inspecting her from the inside out. Something that caused Elizabeth great discomfort.

"We hope your stay is pleasant enough for you to stay with us as long as your dear mother has done, Elizabeth," Albus welcomed the brunette, giving her a sweet smile while he sat down again. Before she followed his action, her brown eyes traveled towards Severus one last time, who had not moved his eyes from herself.

"Mother," she called Minerva after breakfast was over, also after she made sure Severus was no longer around. "What's the matter with professor Snape?" She asked, trying not to sound as interested as she actually was.

"What do you mean 'what's the matter'? Did something happened?" Her mother's eyes were inquisitive, even if her voice was not.

"Well, yes and no. Is just that I got lost yesterday, and he showed me the way back to my office. But, he seems to dislike me greatly, he's awfully sarcastic and rude," she confessed, trying avoid details like how intensily he was looking at her during the short breakfast meeting.

"Oh... well, I'm afraid to tell you that he just happens to be like that, my dear. Severus is quite an enigma. I myself taught him when he was my student, and still, I have no idea what on heavens goes through his mind sometimes," the older witch smiled as she relaxed, it was common when somebody complained about Severus' character. "But, you shouldn't worry about him that much, he'll come around."

"What does that mean?" She asked, her face adorned with a complete look of confusion.

"You'll see, just be patient with him. Deep down the harshest looks, a good man protects himself." It wasn't much, but the talk she had with her mother made her think twice about a couple of things. Perhaps she was judging Severus too hard, she had just met him a day ago. The curly haired woman remembered she used to be like that most of her life. But as her mother said, it was only to protect herself from others that caused harm. She couldn't blame Snape for trying to do the same, especially if she didn't knew him.

  
After many days of debating with herself (and avoiding certain teacher). And when she finally learned how to travel the castle without getting lost in every hallway, a basket of goodies appeared in front of certain professor's door. All with a card that read:

_Thank you for the help the other day. Don't worry, I know how to get back on my own now._

_-Elizabeth Deetz._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter just to introduce Elizabeth, a bit of backstory, her relationship with Minerva, among some other things. I will not say anything else to avoid spoilers and I will do my best not to change the original story too much. I'm trying to make Elizabeth fit in the story as natural as possible without intervening too much in the canon storyline. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter!


	2. Halloween

Her first month as a teacher at Hogwarts was better than she expected. Having to deal with only third-years up, and her class being an elective after all, there wasn’t much difficult things she had to deal with. Yet, there were many things she had to deal with. A couple of days before class started Dumbledore had reunited with all professors again, separately. Despite not being asked for a challenge for the stone, she had to keep the secret of what was being kept safe in Hogwarts. Another thing that concerned her was not a thing, but a person, more specific: a tall, raven-haired man, with dark eyes and a personality that maybe only a mother could stand. She kept running into him almost every day after class, before every meal, and often in the library, where they would find each other looking for books to read in their free time. The only place where she could be 100% sure she wouldn't ran into Severus was the teacher lounge. All the teachers knew he would rather stay down in the dungeons doing his work than on the lounge.

"He's just, sooo.... exasperating!", complaining with her mother was the only way she would feel better about the whole thing. "Is like he only knows how articulate basic human courtesy phrases and sarcastic statements. That's the only two things I'm able to get out of him," she stressed, while grading some 4th graders essay's about why wizards thought electricity was important to muggles.

"I feel the need to ask," Minerva finally spoke after almost 20 minutes of listening to Elizabeth talk about Severus. "Is there something else that you would like to receive from Severus?" The witch squinted at her daughter inquisitively, trying to read through her expressions.

The question from her mother caught her completely off guard, "Of... of course not, mum," she said out of pride. But, if she had been completely honest, she would've tell her she had never thought about it before. Yes, there was something about Severus that she didn't comprehended, but did she wanted to discover what was it? Was the fact that he was mean and sarcastic what she hated, or the fact that she wished to converse and he didn't seemed to be interested on it?

"Then. I don't see the point of you thinking about him so bloody much. For he is not important to you, I presume." Minerva was definitely tough when needed, but there was something else she tried to make her daughter understand through her words.

"Right..." Elizabeth transferred her gaze from her mother's to the paper in her hands.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and nothing else was said. Elizabeth's brown eyes wandered across the parchment in her hands, she couldn’t focus on her work now, Minerva had planted a set of questions inside her head. But her thoughts here soon interrupted by the clock chime in the room, it was time to gather for dinner. The former Slytherin student got really excited, it was Halloween and that meant a special feast at the castle. She made her way from the teacher's lounge to the Great Hall next to her mother cheerfully. Minerva couldn't help but remember an 11-year-old Elizabeth running across the castle in Halloween to the feast, the same bright childish smile across her face at the moment like the one she had 14 years ago.

The moment she entered the hall, the smile almost faded from her face. The only seats available at the moment were the one her mother always had next to Dumbledore, and another one next to Severus, who seemed to be more grumpier than usual. She took her seat next to the potions teacher reluctantly, trying to avoid any eye contact with him.

"Good evening, Severus." The brunette couldn’t help but greet him, she would try to be the bigger person out of whatever game they were playing.

"Good evening," he shortly responded, turning from his meal to her. Severus opened his mouth to try and say something else, but nothing came out. Instead he took the wine vase and offered to serve her some with a hand gesture. Elizabeth nodded her head instead of talking due to the surprise, he seemed different that night. It was certain Halloween was known as the night the dead walked among the living, but does that included traits and sides of people one had never seen before?

"Thank you," Elizabeth said in a soft voice, perhaps he was just tired of being sarcastic for the day.

  
Taking a sip from her wine, her eyes traveled across the Great Hall, all of the students seemed to be having the time of their lives. Her own memories of the holiday at Hogwarts flashed through her mind, painting a faint smile on her face.

"Do you fancy Halloween, Ms. Deetz?" Snape's hoarse voice made her turn from the students to his dark eyes immediately.

"As a matter of fact, I do. My years in Hogwarts weren't exactly the best of my life," she answered shyly. Still wondering when the sarcasm was gonna hit, she kept going, "Being a Slytherin during You-Know-Who's rising was extremely difficult. Most of my former classmates parents were Death Eaters, and well me, being Minerva's daughter... the only reason they never attacked me was because of my blood status."

The potions teacher cleared his throat almost awkwardly, "So you were in Slytherin... interesting." Even if his words seemed dragged and flat as always, there wasn't a hint of rudeness on them this time. "And, how did Halloween played a part in that?" He asked while taking a sip of his drink.

"Oh, well... Halloween was the holiday where everybody else was too busy stuffing their faces with lollies and cake to be bothering others. Ghosts fly around the castle happily, and the weather begins to become colder from now," Elizabeth answered excitedly, "Imagine not fitting in, and spending your first two months at Hogwarts completely alone. That until Halloween comes around, and everybody is having a great time because we were all kids high on sugar." She giggled at her own words, turning around to find Severus completely lost in his own thoughts.

"I will never forget my first Halloween at Hogwarts," she confessed after a moment of silence, smiling warmly at Severus. It was the first time they had held a conversation without him being rude or sarcastic.

"TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS! TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS! Thought you ought to know." The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher interrupted in the middle of the feast, right before passing out in the hall.

"Seems I won't forget this one either," Elizabeth babbled out in complete shock, before all the students began to scream and try to run away scared.

* * *

A couple of days had passed since the Halloween incident, and the students seemed to have nothing else to talk about but how three first-year students, one of them being the famous Harry Potter, had defeated a mountain troll in the girls bathroom. The muggle studies teacher exhaled a big breath after the last class of her day was over, she had grown tired of listening to the same Halloween story over and over again between the students during her class.

She made her way to the library as soon as the last student left the classroom, it was barely Tuesday and she needed to rest already. A book would at least distract her mind so she could make it to the end of the week. She filled her lungs with the scent of the books and parchments upon entering the library, nothing like that smell to bring her back to life.

After finding almost all of the books she wanted to read, she realized part of her hair had fallen from her up-do to her eyes. She put the books down dangerously close to the corner of a table to take care of her hair, it wasn't long until they were all spread across the floor.

"Goddamn it," she whispered while trying to pick them up.

She was too busy cursing herself to realize that somebody else came to help. It wasn't until he handed her two of the books on the floor, she looked up to find Severus, who looked at her boringly.

"Are books more interesting when read on the floor, Ms. Deetz?" Severus asked, going back at it again with the damned sarcasm.

"No," she spat out instantly, "I can't mess up once without you being around, can I?" The bitterness in her words made Snape raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"I'm afraid it's not my fault you happen to be such a clumsy woman. Perhaps is not that I'm around only when you make a mistake. Maybe you happen to make mistakes constantly, and I just witness some of many of your errors." His usual flat tone made her more angry than she already was.

"Look, Severus.... I don't understand what your problem is, but could you at least-" she abruptly stopped when realizing the trail of blood behind Severus' foot. It was certain it came from him, even his lower pants appeared to be wet. "Merlin, are you alright? Have you gone to Madam Pomfrey?" She asked, sincerely concerned.

The potions professor looked down realizing what she meant. Without even thinking about answering, he tried to carry on his way away from her. But she gripped him by the arm, stopping him immediately.

"Severus, have you gone to the infirmary? You're limping, it seems bad," Elizabeth asked once again, looking directly at his eyes trying to intimidate him. Something her mother often could do.

"Is none of your business," he hissed.

"I'm afraid it is now. You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you go after seeing the hard time you have trying to walk. I can help you without having to attend the infirmary, but if you don't let me do it, I will personally tell Ms. Pomfrey and I will make her drag you from your cave to her office." Elizabeth's words were firm, a side of her he hadn't seen before.

Both teachers entered her office carrying books from the library. "Put them on the table next to the couch, you may take a seat. I'll be right back," she said before entering her bedroom. Severus did as she asked and sat down slowly, the pain from the leg definitely taking over him after almost 5 days of trying to ignore it. The brown haired woman soon entered the room with a big black box and a bottle of Firewhiskey.

"Now, I'm gonna take a look at it to see what we're dealing with. Could you please lift your pants, please?" She asked politely while kneeling in front of him, setting the box at her side and the bottle in the table next to him.

The raven-haired man squinted her eyes annoyingly, but still did as she asked. His leg was bleeding and hurting, he couldn't say no.

She examined his lower leg momentaneously. "Severus, did... did Hagrid's three-headed dog did this?" Elizabeth asked without trying to be inquisitive.

"Is it relevant?" Snape rapidly questioned back, annoyance growing in his voice.

"It is, I need to know if an animal did this in order to know what on earth am I going to do so it doesn't get infected," the brunette answered firmly, tired of Severus trying to avoid every single thing she asked. He nodded in response, moving his deep dark eyes away from her brown ones.

Elizabeth opened the box that turned out to be a first aid kit, filled with bandages, potions and simple muggle medicine. The potions teacher looked at the box and then to the woman, wondering if she might be carrying too much stuff. After looking at a couple of vials, she opened one that contained a black gooey substance.

"This won't smell good, and to be honest it's gonna hurt a lot, but I'm sure it will help," the brunette warned him while opening the vial. "You may want to take a drink of that whiskey right now," she suggested right before pouring the black goo over his leg.

Severus grunted as soon as the substance touched his wound, the pain it caused was definitely as strong as she said. The goo moved around the wound to fit perfectly, covering every spot of flesh that was exposed due to Fluffy's attack. Elizabeth quickly put a fresh piece of bandage on top of it after it stopped moving, and with a longer one she began to cover his whole leg. The silence in her office a tad uncomfortable, a lot of questions began to fill her head.

What was Snape doing in the stone's chamber? If the dog attacked him was it because he was trying to go for the stone? Was she even supposed to be helping him? If he hadn't been to the infirmary it was probably because he knew he wasn't gonna get any help. Suddenly she came to the realization that he was one of the Stone's keepers, it was probably just her being paranoid. All the teachers seemed to trust Snape, except Quirrell of course.

"Is everything in order, Ms. Deetz?" Snape's hoarse voice snapped her out of her thoughts, she had forgotten he was right there.

"Yes, I was just... thinking about how much professor Quirrell seems to be afraid of you," she replied with a faint smile, trying to distract herself from the stupid conspiracy theories.

"And that’s somehow.... funny to you?" He asked in a monotonous voice.

"Not at all! Is just that, not very often you met a full grown man that's afraid so much of another one. Although, professor Quirrell seems to be scared of everyone," Elizabeth said nervously, trying not to make the moment even more uncomfortable than it already was.

Snape looked at her eyes squinting lightly, but he soon turned his gaze away from the brunette. "I suppose that's true," he shortly responded. A small groan left his mouth when she tightened the bandage one last time.

"I'm sorry! It's done," she apologized while securing the bandage correctly and standing up, moving away from him.

The raven haired man stood up, resting his wounded leg more comfortably on the floor. The pain was still there, but not as intense as before. He walked to the door, making his way outside of the office into his own.

"You should come again later in the week," Elizabeth suggested. Snape looked back at her abruptly, an eyebrow raising in disbelief. "I mean just to make sure it doesn't get infected.... I could do this at least other three times, that should do it." She moved a couple of rebel hairs away from her face, nerviosism taking over her once again.

There was nothing else to expect but a sarcastic or mean comment, she wanted to slap herself for suggesting such a thing. Instead, Snape kept quiet a couple of seconds, nodded lightly and turned around to walk away.

"See you on Wednesday then?" He finally asked, Elizabeth nodded in response trying to avoid saying something dumb, "Good night, Ms. Deetz." He disappeared among the darkness of the hallway.

The muggle studies teacher closed the door of the room behind her, resting against it and sighing heavily, a smile appeared momentarily on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to upload this one today. To be honest I think this might be the only update that will be two days apart, but I will try my best not to wait to long for the ones to come, I have a lot of ideas for this story that I'm already working on.
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for reading my work, see you in the next chapter!


	3. White Days

It was a cold and gray morning at Hogwarts, the sun was nowhere to be seen due to the fluffy clouds decorating the sky. It wouldn't be long for the first snowfall of the year happened, so many students were making their way from the castle to the Hogwarts train back home. At the top of the astronomy tower, Elizabeth watched them say goodbye to the friends they had made in the last couple of months. She particularly noticed some kids saying goodbye to Ron Weasley, who had decided to stay in the castle with Harry to keep him company. A sigh left her chest, she would be free to do as she wanted for a couple of weeks. No papers to grade, not many students to deal with.  

"Are you taking the train, Miss Deetz?" Dumbledore's soft voice startled her quite a bit, he apologized when noticing. 

"No, of course not." she answered nervously. "I don't... I plan to never. I won't, Headmaster." she stuttered trying to remain calm. It wasn’t his presence that made her anxious, but the question he asked. 

Dumbledore smiled softly, taking place next to her to watch the students. "What a great feeling must be, to be able to travel back home. One wonders what are the people that don't go home running away from."  

The brunette lowered her gaze knowing he was talking about her, but before she could say a thing the headmaster kept talking, "Now of course, we must not leave aside the fact that, perhaps something is keeping you here. Maybe you are not running, but choosing to stay where your heart is." 

"Hogwarts has always been my home, sir. I used to spent almost every holiday here with my mum" Elizabeth said more camly. 

"I remember," he looked at her over his half-moon shaped glasses "I trust that's _one_ of the reasons you're staying here this year as well."  

Without a doubt, Albus Dumbledore was incredibly good with words. When he wanted to make a point, there wasn't a single way you could avoid the subject he wanted to talk about. Which is exactly why Elizabeth decided it was better to just remain silent next to him. She knew exactly what he meant.  

After watching every student go, Elizabeth made her way to her office thinking about nothing else but what Dumbledore had told her. It was true that she was choosing to stay at Hogwarts, but it was also true that she had things to deal with back in America. She wasn't somebody that hide from things, but for the first time everything was so messy and complicated she didn't found a better remedy than to run away. Tons of questions and "what if's" fluttered through her head, distracting her enough to not realize a certain green-eyed boy that was about to run into her.  

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" The little boy cried, he waited her reaction nervously for he wasn't supposed to be running in the hallway.   

Instead of scolding him, the woman just stared at him dumbfounded. It was the first time she had looked at him directly in the eyes, noticing how much he looked like Lily and James at the same time. She remained quiet a couple of seconds, not being sure of how to introduce herself.  

"I... It's alright, Harry." The words left her mouth naturally when she couldn't think of anything better to say. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, squinting his mesmerizing green eyes he obviously wondered how she knew his name. "Ah, Mister Potter." She corrected herself, knowing  that the teachers didn't referred to the students by their first names. 

Harry stared at her a couple of seconds, waiting for a reprimand to come. "You know you are not supposed to be running in the halls, Mr. Potter." A third voice sounded from the end of the hallway, Minerva McGonagall stared at them disapprovingly.  

"I'm sorry, professor." he apologized one more time, looking a bit more scared once Minerva was there.  

"You may go, Potter." Elizabeth said to him as her mother approached them, saving him from more reprimands.  

The green-eyed kid made his way to the Gryffindor dorm without thinking about it twice, smiling at her softly as a thanks for excusing him. By the time Minerva was next to her daughter, the look of disapproval was now directed to her. 

"What did I do?" She asked instantly, knowing her mother had something to say. 

"When are you going to introduce yourself to him?" Minerva crossed her arms across her chest. 

"Mum, don't you think he has met enough people that claimed to know him as a child? Perhaps one less won't make a difference." She did as her mom, and also crossed her arms across her chest. They looked like two copies of the same person, standing in front of each other trying to look  more authoritarian than the other.  

"Of course Elizabeth, but you did knew his parents. You spent enough time with them to call them your friends, maybe you could be someone who he can come to talk about his parents. It’s not possible he remembers much of them." Minerva told her calmly, not as a lecture, but as a request.  

Elizabeth quickly dropped the attitude (and posture), looking down and meditating her mother's words. "I know mum, I would like to talk to him too, but I just don't seem to find the moment. I met him when he was a baby and never saw him until 3 months ago, what do I know about him?"  

The older witch took her daughter's hands between her own, forcing her to look up to her. "You will find your moment, just make sure you do it." 

Her daughter nodded lightly, trying to find courage in her. There were so many things she could talk to him about, but everything seemed so difficult having so many things in her head. 

"Now, will you go back to America this holidays? No pressure, I'm just asking." She said curiously.  

"No." The brown eyed woman answered immediately, letting go from her mother's touch. "I'm sorry I have some things to do." Her answer was cold, and her steps were hard as she walk as fast as possible to her office, where nobody else could bother her at all. 

 

* * *

 

 

Not even a week passed and the castle was already dressed in white. It was two days after Christmas and the Great Hall was amazingly decorated for the dinner held for said holiday. To be quite honest, Elizabeth didn't enjoyed the date at all. Back in America, they overdid it so much she had grown quite tired of it. Still, she couldn't say no to amazing food and beverages. The moment she stepped out of her office on her way to breakfast, she realized she had spent the last days completely alone, hidden in her room, not going out at all except for meals. She thought about Snape, whom she had not seen since the last time she had to change the bandages of his foot, and another time across the table on Christmas at dinner. 

While she enjoyed spending time by herself, not having anybody to turn to when she felt alone was getting to her. She had her mum of course, but she was a very busy woman as head of Gryffindor, besides she wouldn't know what to say when talking about serious manners regarding her life in America. Upon entering the Great Hall she bumped into one of the teachers, her mind too busy to realize on time, as always. 

"I'm sorry, excuse me." She apologized looking down shyly. Trying to avoid having a conversation, she didn't even looked at the person, trying to made her way directly to the teachers table. 

"Miss Deetz." The professor's deeply familiar voice made her look up instantly. 

"Professor Snape, pardon my clumsiness, I -"  

"I was just looking for you," he interrupted her before she could continue "I have something for you." The raven haired man held up a dull-looking box, giving it to her. 

Elizabeth looked at him completely confused, what on earth was he thinking? A gift? Perhaps he meant to give her a Christmas present as a thanks for the medical help. Without trying to look too excited, she opened the box right there, not having an idea of what to expect. 

"Oh..." She wasn't able to say anything else, it was too surprising, but at the same time not at all. "First aid supplies." A smile started to appear on her face after she said it, holding the box with bandages, medical cloth and several other things she used when healing his leg. She started to laugh freely after a moment, Severus Snape was definitely an interesting man.  

The tall man raised an eyebrow as she laughed, thinking she was laughing at him. "Are you done?" He said bitterly, feeling bothered by the scene. 

"I'm so sorry, Severus. Is just that you shouldn't have, it wasn’t much what I used in you." Her words seemed sweet and calm. She hadn't had a laugh in a long time. 

"I never thanked you for it, I apologize for I was very busy once my leg was better. I figured, after knowing how clumsy you are, you would need to have your emergency kit full again." Snape tried to get back at her for laughing, but she didn't seem to care about his sarcastic remarks this time. 

"Well, clumsy people must be prepared at all times so that isn't a problem," she said happily "but thanks for the gesture. I'm glad your leg is better." Elizabeth was sincere and felt quite relieved, the professor's leg was definitely at a bad state when she first treated him. 

Without anything else to say, the potions professor nodded and turned around to the teacher's table, cutting the conversation with silence, like he often did.  

"Have you eaten yet?" She asked before he could get too far away. The man just looked over his shoulder and shook his head slowly. "Would you mind if I sit next to you today? It's been a while since we talked." Despite sounding sure of her words, in her mind, she had no idea what she was doing. Severus Snape had the reputation of being an amazingly antisocial man, and there was also the experience of him being constantly rude. Yet there was something about him that made her feel sure he wasn't as bad as he looked. Her mother had taught her to be less judgemental, she knew how prejudice could hurt a person.  

"Not at all." His response was husky and quick, as he kept walking towards his seat.  

Elizabeth followed right behind him, while most students stared dumbfounded at the teachers. Who on earth would like to spent time with the bat of the dungeons? First they saw the, according to the oldest students, attractive muggle studies teacher, daughter of none other than Minerva McGonagall laugh with him, and now she was going to spend her breakfast with him.  

"It's a bloody world gone mad." The Weasley twins said to their younger brother and his friend, while staring at the mean professor and the brown haired woman sitting next to each other on the teachers table.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! 
> 
> It took me a while to write this one, to be honest I have lots of chapters already done, but they need chapters in between for them to work. So, I'm gonna let you know already that some would be shorter, and some updates will be quicker than others. Still I will try to update at least every week. I hope you can bear with me and keep on reading my story. Thanks for the ones that plan to keep reading it! I appreciate that you take the time to do so.
> 
> See you in the next chapter!


	4. Rumors

It was a Saturday morning in the Great Hall, and it was filled with cheerful students all around. The excitement in the room could not be contained at all. Just a normal morning whenever there would be a Quidditch match. One could say it was one of the few occasions where the separation between the houses was undistinguishable, for the students made "truces" with one another to cheer them and beat the team against them.  

The teachers seemed to be in a great mood as well, they were chatting and enjoying having such energetic students, hoping that someday they would be the same in their classes. Minerva was betting to Dumbledore this match would be a success for Gryffindor thanks to Harry Potter once again. She loved to brag about him after the first Quidditch match he'd won.  

At the end of the table, two particular teachers remained in silence, doing nothing but enjoying their breakfast. That until the female teacher decided to start a particularly strange conversation. 

"There's a rumor going around the students about you, you know?" The woman mentioned before taking a bite of her blood pudding.  

Severus Snape, who was about to take a sip of his drink, put the goblet down, and slowly turned to the brunette woman sitting next to him. He squinted his eyes at her annoyingly, too afraid to say anything.  

"Should I care?" He finally asked, the tone in his voice as flat and bitter as the look on his face 

"Well, is just a silly rumor. But I found it quite interesting, since is a bit over the top," she teased, trying to make him interested.  

He snorted loudly, trying to avoid the conversation, doing his best to remain calm and concentrate on finishing his breakfast. It was the day he would referee the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff Quidditch match. 

"What is the rumor, then?" Severus gave into his curiosity after a couple of minutes of silence. 

"Some students say you were the one jinxing Potter's broom in his first Quidditch game." A half smirk appeared in her lips after answering, trying her best not to laugh out loud. 

The potions professor looked at her dumbfounded, she couldn't tell if he was mad or surprised. Anyhow his face was photoworthy, and it was becoming more difficult for her not to burst out laughing. 

"And why do the students stupidly believe I did such a thing? What were, according to them, my reasons to jinx Potter's broom?" His voice grew louder as the anger he felt was now taking over. 

"Well, some of them say you did it so Gryffindor couldn't win the match against Slytherin, you being the head of the house and all. But -" she swallowed a bit of her pumpkin juice before continuing, feeling a tad nervous - "some say it was because you wanted to kill him."  

The expression on Snape's face was one she'd never seen before. He immediately put his eating utensils down, focusing his complete attention on her. "From who exactly did you heard such idiotic rumors?"  

He moved closer, looking more serious than ever while interrogating her. His face was so close to hers, she could notice the bags under his darkened eyes. The smell of rain, the usual freshness of the cold dungeons and a scent similar to a forest, presumably his cologne, filled her nostrils. It was the first time she was that close to Severus.  

"Uh... from some 4th-years, they were talking about it on the middle of my class. I... I don't quite remember exactly who they were." Elizabeth felt a chill running down her spine, she turned her head to the side, trying to avoid his penetrating gaze. She was feeling inexplicably nervous, there was an odd sensation on the back of her head. "Although the ones saying you aimed to kill him were mostly first years chatting in the hallways. I believe is not news for you that they fear you."  

The potions teacher stared at her a couple of minutes more, the silence between them was somewhat enerving for the brunette. Snape looked away from her and stood up from his seat. 

"Very well, then. See you in the game, Miss Deetz." Not giving her a chance to say a thing, the man walked away from the teachers table directly to the Hufflepuff dining table. Elizabeth noticed the students shivering as he walked menacingly behind them, until he finally stood before two fourth-year students.  

The man said something to them that made them turn around in complete fear, after a couple more words from him they seemed to be apologizing. "Detention, now!" He barked at the students, who stood up from their seats. That was when she could recognize Dale Bertrand and Landon Craven, the same students whom she had heard the rumors from the first time.  

"How in the hell...." She looked at the scene completely amazed. Just _how_ did Severus Snape guessed who where the students? 

 

* * *

 

 

"Why would you give them detention?" She asked the professor disapprovingly, while they made their way from the Quidditch field to the teachers lounge after the match.  

"Why do you care?" The man asked annoyingly, avoiding giving her an answer. 

"They couldn't possibly be the ones that started the rumor! It’s an enormous school, it could've been anyone." The guilt of knowing two students were forced to miss the match because of her reckless comments was overwhelming.  

The raven haired man kept walking, doing his best to repress the voice that reprimanded him. Quidditch wasn't somethng he fancied, let alone having to play referee for a bunch of brats.  

"It isn’t fair they missed the match just because I heard the rumor from them. Everybody gossips, you should've grounded the whole school if you wanted to teach them a lesson." She spoke once again, after not getting a word out of the man.  

"If I could, I would." Snape stated harshly, clearly bored by the conversation. 

"Don't be ridiculous!" A pout was made present on her lips, she couldn't find a way to win the argument. 

"Stop feeling guilty, Deetz. They didn't wanted to tell me who started the rumor or who they heard it from first. Bertrand and Craven _deserved_ detention," His voice was now soft and relaxed, he knew she wouldn't stop talking about it until he gave her a reason. 

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in confusion, "How do you know I'm feeling guilty?"  

A deadly silence filled the hallway once again, Snape snorted loudly. Her brown eyes stared at him inquisitively. Now there had been two times in a row where he had "guessed" what she was thinking.  

"You're easy to read," he simply responded, brushing the question off of him like dust on his suit. The man tried to walk faster, thinking maybe she will stop talking once they were on the teachers lounge. 

"I want them both out of detention." She demanded with her arms across her chest, suddenly standing in front of Snape to make him stop walking. The potions master simply moved a few inches to the left and walked past her. Rolling his eyes while doing so. "Severus!" She called him, turning on her heels and not moving from her spot. "If you don't do what I'm asking you, I'll tell Albus," Elizabeth threatened him boldly.  

He abruptly stopped walking, turning around to lock eyes with her in disbelief. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the man moved his dark eyes from hers to the floor. Miraculously, after sighing loudly, a half smirk started to appear on his face. Severus Snape, _almost_ smiling. 

"You act like a child, you know?" His voice was soft and calm, the smirk still present in his face.  

"Only when forced to." She retorted as her arms started to fall to her sides. Not knowing what else to do. 

"It appears you are permanently obliged to do so," the sarcasm in his voice was still present but seemingly toned down. "Fine, I will remove Bertrand and Craven's detention. But, as soon as I find out who was the one that started the rumors, I'm giving that person detention until the school term is over. And I don't want to hear you whine about it," he declared firmly, almost begging for closure. 

The brown haired woman smiled widely, nodding at him as a promise that she would not intervene in case he found the culprit. "Walk, I have papers to grade." Severus almost ordered her to keep walking with a hand gesture, feeling almost sure she would most certainly get involved when the time to punish said student came.  

But for now, he would find comfort in the silence they shared working on their classes in the teachers lounge.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one!  
> I am so desperate to publish all the chapters I already wrote. Buuuut, I need to be patient haha.  
> Once again, thanks a lot for reading me.  
> See you in the next one!


	5. Green Eyes

When she opened her eyes, it was still dark. The concern in her mother's voice trying to wake her up was alarming, so she stood up immediately from bed as soon as she was able to move. Minerva mumbled unintelligible words at her, while ordering her to dress up to help her transfer someone to the Hospital Wing. Instead of changing into her casual clothing, she covered herself with a black night coat, and slipped into a pair of comfortable slippers. Both McGonagall women ran as quietly as they could from the first floor to the third, where the Stone's chamber resided, the gray haired witch didn't wanted to wake up students and make a fuss.  

"Granger, where's Potter?" The older woman demanded to know immediately upon arriving to the scene. 

Outside of the chamber, two children laid on the cold stone ground. Elizabeth looked at the kids, her mouth opened in disbelief when seeing Ron Weasley passed out next to the Granger girl, blood staining both of their faces. It seemed impossible for her to move, it was unnerving to witness such a scene. But after processing what was happening right in front of her eyes, she kneeled down to make sure they weren't more wounded than they appeared. A sigh of relief left her chest when feeling the red haired boy's pulse, he didn't seemed to have any broken bones, just a couple of bruises and small cuts here and there. 

"They are getting him out of the chamber, professor." The little curly haired girl answered nervously, she felt in trouble. Very rightfully so.  

"Who are _they_?" Minerva asked calmly, hoping everything was alright. 

"Profe-"  

"Mum, we need to take Mister Weasley to the Hospital Wing with Ms. Pomfrey immediately. He's unconscious but I can't tell exactly why, he needs to be treated." The younger McGonagall interrupted the conversation between her mother and the girl, doing her best to try and carry the Weasley boy in her arms.  

"Potter as well." A deep, silky voice was heard from the inside of the chamber.  

The three females turned to find Severus Snape carrying an unconscious Harry Potter, while Albus walked right behind him.  

"Merlin, what happened to him?!" Minerva came closer to the kid, noticing he was wounded like his friend, his fist clenching a bright red stone.  

"He's fine, Minerva," Dumbledore stated softly, looking down to the other two Gryffindors laying on the floor. "Miss Granger, since you seem to be the only one standing, I must request you go to my office after you get checked by Ms. Pomfrey. Could you?" The man requested to the girl, who nodded immediately. "Miss Deetz, please try to get Mr. Weasley as close to the Hospital Wing as you can. Someone from our staff will be here to help you in just a moment. Minerva come." 

And just like that, Elizabeth was left by herself on the third floor, panic started to overpower her calm state. But instead of letting it take over completely, she carried the Weasley boy in her arms ignoring how heavy he might've been. What on earth had happened in there? What were three 11-year-old kids doing out of their beds and on the inside of that room? She worried about Harry, the school year was almost over and she hadn't even tried to talk to him, he was seemingly at a bad state. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought about the possibility of Harry's life being in danger. 

The way to the Hospital Wing seemed longer than ever, despite walking as quickly as she could it was still far away. Soon enough a dark figure approached her, quickly and quietly Severus took Ron in his arms. "Come, the headmaster requests to speak with all of us." The dark haired man said in his usual husky voice, requesting her to walk with him. 

After leaving both boys at the care of Ms. Pomfrey (and waiting for her diagnose), Elizabeth and Severus made their way to Dumbledore's office in silence. Upon entering the office, they both realized neither the headmaster or Minerva were there. The brunette woman decided to take a seat while they waited for them to come back. It was a weird thing, to be alone with Severus. Despite the fact that their relationship wasn't like it used to be in the beginning, it was still hard for Elizabeth to engage a conversation with him. Her brown eyes inspected the man standing in front of her, a man who did nothing but walk around the room with a vacant expression in his deep dark eyes.  

"Do you just... sleep with your clothes on?" She asked after realizing he was wearing his usual casual clothing. 

Severus turned around to face her, raising a single brow while looking at her. "No. Since it did not seemed urgent to me that three idiotic children decided to violate the Stone's chamber in the middle of the night, I took my time to dress up after Dumbledore woke me up," he replied in a calm voice tone, looking straight into her eyes while doing so.  

The brunette woman turned her face to the side as she laughed, feeling a slight relief while laughing. She needed to relax while they waited for her mom and Dumbledore. It was the only moment when she felt grateful about him being so sarcastic. A moment later, Minerva and Albus walked through the door, looking a bit surprised when watching the woman smiling almost dearly at the grim potions master. 

"Ah... Severus, Miss Deetz. Thank you for being here and helping both boys. Miss Granger is now on her room after being checked by one of the nurses. Thankfully she is alright. What about Potter and Mr. Weasley?" the headmaster calmly asked, as he made his way to his desk to take a seat.  

"Oh, they will be fine. Weasley received a big hit but he started to wake up after Miss Pomfrey gave him an elixir, and-" 

"Potter seemed to have suffer some kind energy drain. He is being treated as we speak, and will most likely wake up in a couple of days." The potions master finished the report to the headmaster, who nodded in relief while listening to it.  

"Minerva and I just came back from writing a letter to my friend Nicholas Flamel. I had to let him know as soon as possible that the stone has to be destroyed, tonight." He stated firmly, looking seriously at the dark haired man.  

"Tonight? But headmaster, what happened in there? Why is it so urgent that the stone gets destroyed tonight? I mean, if you don't mind my asking." Elizabeth shyly said, after showering Albus with her questions. 

"It doesn't matter if he minds since you already asked." Severus mentioned behind her, right before Dumbledore could speak.  

Her brown eyes almost pierced through his body when she turned furiosuly to look at him, suddenly she didn't appreciated his sarcasm as much as she did ten minutes ago.  

"I am afraid to tell you that tonight, Lord Voldemort attempted to take a hold of the stone."  

Dumbledore's words made the two McGonagall women shiver. Elizabeth took her mother's hand tightly, as they listened to the events that had taken place that night.    

 

* * *

 

"Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who! Again!" An amused 14 year-old Ravenclaw roared across the hallway to his fellow housemates, as they talked once again about how Voldemort, who was in the back of the head of quiet and anxious professor Quirrell, had been defeated by Potter and his two friends. 

A certain professor sighed heavily as she walked past them, doing her best to remain calm and collected on her way to the Hospital Wing. It had been a couple days since Harry had woken up, and the decision had been made that as soon as he did, she would go to talk to him. She deeply sighed as she stood outside the Hospital Wing, the voice of Granger and Weasley could be heard behind the great wooden door. Taking a last deep breath, she opened the door slowly, and walked steady but nervous towards the bed where Potter resided.  

"Ah, good afternoon, Mr. Potter. Granger, Weasley." She saluted the three kids quietly, nodding politely as an apology for interrupting their conversation. "Uhm, I was wondering if I could have a moment alone with Potter."  

Noticing she was referring to them, Ron and Hermione quickly nodded and said goodbye to their friend, while standing up and heading outside of the Hospital. The green eyed boy smiled shyly to the professor, waiting for her to say something after a moment of awkward silence.  

"Well... I don't know where to start, I'm sorry." Elizabeth finally said, feeling more nervous as every second passed by. 

"You're professor McGonagall's daughter, right? Miss Elizabeth, you teach Muggle Studies." The little kid asked, trying to ease the tension. His vibrant green eyes piercing true her with curiosity.  

"Ye-yes. That would be me... how do you know?"  

"The oldest students talk a lot about you, many second years claim they're going to take Muggle Studies just because of you." Harry answered, a little embarrassed while doing so.  

"Ah, well... how nice of them," the professor mumbled while still trying to find a way to start explaining herself. A moment of silent later she sighed and sat on the corner of the bed slowly. The look on her eyes changed completely, as she decided to give up and let her heart do its thing. "I don't know how many people have told you this already, but I knew your parents, Harry." 

His green eyes shined momentaneously, the boy opened his mouth to try and say something, but nothing came out. Taking a deep breath, he stared at the brunette woman sitting at the corner of his hospital bed, anxiously inviting her to keep talking about his parents.  

"I met them during my first year at Hogwarts, they were Heads of their house. And during the war they took care of me when my mum couldn't," she brushed a couple of hairs out of her face, smiling slightly at the memory of the time she spent with them. "I know they lied to you, Harry. Your uncles, about what happened to your parents. I'm not sure whether they talked about your parents but-" 

"They didn’t," Harry interrupted her. His face apologizing for doing so, "they never talked about them. And when they did, it was never good things."  

Elizabeth came closer to him, putting her hand over his. Hoping that being away from them could make Harry feel better, more secure and happier. "I spent enough time with them to assure you they were marvelous wizards, and a couple of the best people I've ever known. If you ever feel the need to know more about them, apart from what you remember, you can always come and talk to me, Harry." 

"Well you're here now, and I can't really do anything else but stay in here until Madam Pomfrey let's me go, so..." The boy pointed out, a wave of excitement making his heart beat faster than usual.  

The teacher warmly smiled at him, and cleared her throat softly, while memories of her time spent with the Potter's flew inside her head. One of the weights she carried on her shoulders after moving to Hogwarts seemed to fade away, as she chatted with the kid that she once held on her arms as a teenager. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, an update after so long.
> 
> I want to deeply apologize to those that are/were interested in this story, specially to reader Lizarr who said would continue to read until the end, that I took so long to update. College and work were kicking me in the ass like you have no idea, and then life did. So, it has been rough for me since the year started, but I'm finally recovering and getting my muse back. 
> 
> I have no idea when the next update will be, but trust me, I will be dedicating time to this fic as much as I did when I started it. 
> 
> Thanks a lot to those that have been reading since last year, and to those that start reading it from now on. 
> 
> See you in the next one!


	6. The Beast and The Prey

After a whole year of working at Hogwarts, the teacher's lounge had became one of Elizabeth's favorite places to be. The peaceful quietness and the dim lighting of the room, were only two of the many reasons she loved the place. Another one she wouldn't dare to say if you asked her, was the fact that every school day, exactly at 5:35, Severus would walk into the room, straight to the couch next to hers, and take a seat. They didn't really talked, just made each other company while grading papers in complete silence, until dinner time, where they would walk together to the Great Hall, to eat and chat about their day. That had became their routine since the year started, it wasn't planned at all, which seemed odd to everybody around them. It never occurred to them that somebody would actually found pleasant to spend time with Severus Snape.  

She looked up to the clock at the corner of the room and realized that in less than 15 minutes, Severus was going to enter the room. The woman shuffled in her seat excitedly, for she hoped it would be a good night for them. Little did she know it was going to flow in the opposite direction, for a flamboyant Gilderoy Lockhart made his way to the lounge theatrically throwing winks and smirks at students. He stood in front of the door, examining every single teacher in the room, as if he was a predator looking for its prey. It wasn't long until he found Elizabeth sitting alone next to the fireplace.  

"Ms. Deetz!" He yelled in a singsong voice, not caring about disturbing the other teachers. 

_'Oh, shit._ _Please don't.'_ Elizabeth thought, stressfully clenching her quill, trying not to look up at him, as if she hadn't heard his greeting.  

"Do you mind if I sit down next to you?" He asked while he sat, not waiting for her response. His pose was over the top, like waiting for somebody to start making a portrait of him right there. 

"No point in asking if you're going to do it anyways, right?" The brown haired woman replied in a sarcastic tone, as she realized the best part of her day will probably go to hell, since Severus would never sit next to her with Lockhart fluttering around.  

The new DADA teacher started to babble some things she didn't really comprehended, her mind too busy sulking to pay attention to him. Punctual as always, Severus soon entered the room. She could notice how an expression of confusion painted on his face as he noticed her seated next to none other than Gilderoy Lockhart. It took him less than a minute for his expression to become the same as always, bland and a bit annoyed. He snorted as he walked past Elizabeth and her new companion, and sat in the corner facing her. Elizabeth looked up and squinted at Severus, trying to ask for help without words. But the man was already deep into his own business, a slight smirk pulling his lips, was he laughing at her situation? She took a deep breath in, and slowly turned to Lockhart. 

"Gilderoy?" Severus jerked his head up to them when listening to her call him by his first name. "I really don't feel like this would be an appropriate place for us to chat, how about you and I seat next to one another at dinner?" She proposed, a soft smile appearing on her face.  

"That sounds amazing, love. I'll see you at dinner then," the blonde man winked at her, standing up and finally making his way out of the lounge.  

The brunette quickly gathered her things after watching him leave, thinking on a way to escape from the plans she made with Lockhart in a desperate attempt to shut him up. A frustrated groan left her mouth when she dropped a couple of the papers she was grading, but before she could pick them up, the parchments softly flew back up close to her chest. She turned her head towards Severus, who apparently had helped her with a small flick of his wand. Still to upset about what had happened a moment ago, she huffed and gracefully twirled towards the door, ignoring the dark haired man and his kind gesture.  

Right after exiting the lounge, she heard a couple of steps behind her, followed by a deep voice: "A 'thank you', would be nice," the potions teacher commented. 

Her eye twitched in annoyance, not expecting him to look for trouble that night. "Help would've been nice when Lockhart cornered me like a beast," she snapped, glaring at him over her shoulder, while still walking towards her office.  

"You seemed fine to me. So fine in fact, that you're even planning on having dinner with him tonight," Severus declared, walking right behind her, and trying to keep up with her pace.  

"I just wanted to shut him up!" Elizabeth explained, still to angry to look at him. "This isn't at all how I was planning to spend this day," she muttered, a bit sad and defeated. "I was hoping it to be good night, it's a special night."  

Severus raised an eyebrow, seemingly curious at her statement. "Why should it be more unique than it already is? It's Halloween." He glared at her, finally walking side to side. 

A sigh left her chest, feeling unsure of answering his question. "Well... is just that today – Wait why do you care?" She questioned, remembering she was mad at him. "Leave me so I can think about a way to avoid dining with that imbecile." The brunette woman ordered, raising the pace of her steps, and leaving Severus behind. 

 

* * *

 

Somewhere past dinner time, Elizabeth tiredly walked through the corridors of Hogwarts. She had decided to hid from him the whole afternoon, after not being able to come up with a better plan to eat in the Great Hall without being seen. Her best choice was moving around the castle, hoping not to bump into him.  

The woman dragged her feet down the stairs towards the second floor, finally walking to her office. Suddenly, she heard a couple of kids screaming and running up the second floor stairs, "It's going to kill someone!" One of them yelled.  

Elizabeth quickly ran down to the second floor, upon listening to the fear in his voice. Soon enough, she spotted three kids running way ahead of her. Quickly realizing who they were, she ran faster, scared and confused about what was happening. "Harry!" She yelled, while trying to reach the trio, who began to turn around the floor hallways. "Harry, wait!" The woman called him again, but they didn't heard her, and she soon lost the sight of them after many turns.  

Desperate, she thought about looking for another teacher to ask for help. Still, she kept on looking for them, deciding it was better to be close to them in case something bad happened.  

"Trust me, we don’t want to be found here," she finally heard Ron Weasley's voice around the corner.  

"Guys, what are you do –" a gasp left her lips, abruptly stopping mid-sentence. She blinked repeatedly, unsure of what she was witnessing. "What is this?" She interrogated them, while a rumble invaded both ends of the corridor. The three students and the teacher stood nervously on their spot, as every student walked towards them on their way to their dorms.  

"We just got here, professor. We didn't do anything," Harry explained to Elizabeth, his green eyes filled with panic and hope that she would believe them. Her mouth quivered as she tried to assure she did, but the words painted on the wall made her stomach turn and clench. 

"Enemies of the Heir, beware!" Draco Malfoy read out loud. God, did he acted like his father. "You'll be next, mudbloods!" He finished, threatening the three kids standing in front of her.  

"Mister Malfoy –!" She snapped at the blonde kid, bothered by his harsh words.  

Before she could reprimand him, Argus Filch interrupted her, followed by the arrival of Dumbledore, and the rest of the teachers. The headmaster ordered her, the three kids and Filch to follow him to his office, but Lockhart offered his instead. Once they were there, everyone debated about what had happened to Mrs. Norris, whilst Elizabeth and the three Gryffindors sat quietly, glancing nervously at each other.  

The brunette woman was too deep into her own thoughts, but she quickly focused her attention towards Severus when noticing him trying to blame Harry for the scene. "Now hold it right there, Snape. You're not actually implying Potter and his friends did this, are you?" She inquired, coming to the defense of the students. "They didn't do it, I was walking right behind them when they found the cat, it couldn't have been them," she decided to not add to many details, given Harry himself had lied about why they were there in the first place.  

“I suggest, Headmaster," the dark haired man ignored her, "that Potter is not being entirely truthful,” he said. “It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest.”  

“Really, Severus,” Minerva acquired the same position as her daughter, “I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn’t hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong.”  

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," the headmaster said after a moment of silence, stopping Snape from blaming Harry. He then stated that the potion to save that cat had to be brewed, which was to be done by Severus, claiming his position as the potions master after Gilderoy offered to make it at first.  

Finally, Dumbledore let everybody go to their dorms. A hand gripped Elizabeth's arm as she tried to left the room, she furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance when noticing it was Lockhart. "I missed you at dinner, dear. I thought we had a date," he muttered, loud enough to Severus hear. 

"Not now, Lockhart," she barked, releasing herself from his grip and storming out to her own office.  

Severus witnessed the scene with curiosity, given Elizabeth had never been rude to anyone, not even Lockhart, that had been pestering her since day one. He quickly followed behind her, noticing her walking fast towards her destination. "Deetz," he called her name loudly, which made her jump involuntarily.   

"What now, Snape?" She responded nervously, not turning to look at him, like earlier outside the teacher's lounge.  

"What is the matter? Tell me what you saw, I know you are not telling the truth, like Potter."  

"Let's not act dumb, Severus. What happened tonight isn't normal, did you heard the Malfoy boy? He threatened muggleborns, saying they were next. The writing on the wall claims the Chamber is open. You and I know very well what that means, we're Slytherins after all," she stated, stopping harshly to look at him in the eyes.  

The tall man observed her while they stood in silence, he furrowed his brows in confusion, and clenched his lips. He couldn't quite understand what made her so uneasy, of course he knew what that was supposed to meant, everybody knew the story about the beast in the chamber and the incidents many years ago, including the murder of a certain girl whose spirit hanged around Hogwarts. Still, it allegedly only attacked muggleborns, they ought to be safe.  

"Severus, I..." she hesitated to continue, feeling a pain on her chest. "Never mind, it's nothing. Just a bad night." The woman muttered as she walked away from him, sinking in her own thoughts.  

Without Elizabeth noticing, the dark haired man walked behind her, making sure she made it safe and sound to her office. Once she did, he immediately turned on his heels and proceeded to his own, not exactly sure why he had cared about her making it safe on the first place.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DRAMA. Can you guess what Elizabeth wanted to say to Severus? 
> 
> Ok, I know what some of you may be thinking: "Whaat, two chapters in less than a week after months of not updating??" Yes! Take it as my way for saying "sorry for being a shitty author".
> 
> I actually think this chapter has been the longest of all. I have no idea how it happened, I already had the beginning written down, just kept on writing this whole day. 
> 
> Anyhow, hope you liked it, please feel invited to leave a comment, they give me motivation.
> 
> See you in the next one!


	7. Fear at Home

The first rays of daylight started to lighten up the office that Sunday morning. A tired woman turned her head from the parchment on her desk to the window where the sun was appearing. She rubbed her darkened eyes, feeling how they burned given she hadn't slept at all. The reason behind it, was the events of the week before. Finding Mrs. Norris petrified was disturbing enough, but what had really deprived her from rest, was the menacing message written on the wall where the cat hanged. _"You'll be next, mudbloods!"_ The bitter words of the Malfoy kid constantly resonated in her ears. Another reason to stay awake, was the concern she felt about Harry spending the night on the infirmary; all thanks to Lockhart, who had stupidly disappeared the bones from his arm. She shook her head in an attempt to remain awake, deciding a shower and breakfast would do the trick.  

Feeling freshen up after her shower, the professor walked slowly from her office to the Great Hall, mind still wandering around everything that bothered her. In a way, she hoped it had just been a distasteful joke from some student who read the story about the Chamber of Secrets. When thinking about Harry again, she felt a bit more calm about it, since Madam Pomfrey was definitely the best nurse around. There wasn't a reason why she should worry if the kid's health was resting on Poppy Pomfrey's magical hands.  

Upon entering the Great Hall, she noticed a grim sensation in the air, obliging her to clench her jaw and stiffen her shoulders as she walked through the hall. The students seemed shaken, anxious, and even scared. Her eyes shifted from them to the teachers table, where most of them murmured to each other, something they never did during meal time.  

"What happened?" She immediately asked to the raven haired man, who seemed to be the only calm and collected person in the whole place, as he finished his breakfast.  

Instead of answering right away, he invited her to take her seat next to him with a nod. "There has been another attack," Severus explained, once she was seated. "It was a student this time. Colin Creevey, a first year from Gryffindor," he finished, pushing his plate away and focusing his whole attention on the woman beside him. 

Elizabeth's mouth opened in agape, and her eyes widened as well. She suddenly felt unable to breathe, for a heavy force crushed her chest without mercy. The brunette violently stood from the table, pushing and almost flipping over the chair she was seated on, causing most students and teachers to turn their heads towards her when listening to the sound.  

"Sorry," she muttered, quickly turning her back to all the curious eyes that laid on her, almost running to the chamber off the Great Hall. 

Once inside, she exhaled heavily, finally being able to breathe. Her sight became blurry, and she felt thick tears fall down her cheeks. The door of the chamber opened once again, Minerva, Dumbledore and Severus made their way in, one after the other.  

"My dear child!" A worried Minerva exclaimed, coming closer to the woman and holding her softly in her arms. "What is the matter?" 

"The – the chamber..." She sobbed, too scared to articulate a complete sentence.  

A dreadful silence filled the room, while the oldest witch held her daughter with care. "The beast only attacks muggleborns, Ms. Deetz," the potions master said, his voice deep and emotionless. Yet she quirked her head after listening to him, was she going crazy or was Severus Snape attempting to comfort her? 

Elizabeth unconsciously searched for Dumbledore, who quickly nodded after looking into her eyes for a couple seconds, his tiny blue orbs shinned through his half-moon glasses.  

"Minerva, I believe Miss Elizabeth could use a moment alone," he suggested, nodding his head towards the door.  

The older woman furrowed her brows in confusion, not wanting to leave her daughter so shaken. But then, she realized Severus stood firmly on his place, understanding what the headmaster meant: Elizabeth could use a moment alone... with Severus. Minerva let go of the young woman, and patted her shoulder softly before heading out of the room. The oldest wizard closed the door behind him, glancing momentarily at the young couple of teachers over his shoulder. After a moment of silence, the brunette was able to compose herself, she turned towards the man standing behind her, and took a deep breath in.  

"I know that it only attacks muggleborns, the girl that died long ago and Mr. Creevey's attack confirms it," she said. "Which is why I'm worried, Severus. For there is something that you do not know about me," her voice cracked a bit, and she swallowed a knot that tried to form on her throat. 

Severus kept looking into her eyes, his arms rested on both sides of his body, and he remained in silence as an invitation for her to continue talking. It seemed impossible to read his expressions, since he never once expressed anything but anger and annoyance. That trait of his would upset most people, but Elizabeth had learned to deal with it, she even accomplished to understand what he meant with his almost unnoticeable manners, given the situation they were in.  

"I'm not ashamed of it, but it gives me reason to be scared,"she continued after a small pause. "Severus, I am a muggle born witch." 

Surprisingly, the dark haired man tilted his head to the side in confusion, something she hadn't seen him do before. "I thought Minerva is your mother," he finally said, not changing his brand new expression. 

"She is, but she isn't," the brunette started to explain. "Minerva adopted me when I was a child, my parents were murdered by You-Know-Who," she cleared her throat nervously. "As I said, I'm not ashamed of it, which is why I carry my father's last name proudly. I just don't usually mention it because I don't think it really matters." 

Another wave of silence filled the room, but this time it didn't felt as grim as before. The man nodded, as a way of letting her know he understood. "Indeed, blood status does not matter at all," his voice although it was still deep, it seemed softer and almost soothing. 

The door of the room burst open a moment after Severus finished his sentence, making both teachers turn to observe who had done such a thing. It wasn't really surprising when they watched a man whose cluster of blonde curls fluttered as he entered the room flamboyantly.  

"My dear Elizabeth, do not worry about the fate of the students, for I am here to protect you," he exclaimed, taking her hand to place a unrequested kiss on it. " - And the students, of course."  

The young woman groaned annoyingly, snapping her hand away from his lips. "I'm afraid that's not the only beast I fear," she commented, straightening her back and walking towards the door, not turning to look back at the men behind. 

There was a very awkward silence after she left. Gilderoy stared at the closed door, his ego severely hurt, but the smile on his face never faded. "Women, huh? They love to play hard to get, especially when they don't know what to do with her hormones," he asserted, trying to convince Severus that the young brunette fancied him.  

The potions master raised a single eyebrow in disbelief, slightly shrugging and turning to leave Lockhart by himself. 

"Wait professor Snape," the blonde called him, before he could walk away. "Given the recent events, I am planning on creating a dueling club to teach the students how to protect themselves. And, I feel you are the only one among the rest of the staff members that seems to be almost on my level. I wouldn't like to hurt my dear co-workers, so I figured it would be a marvelous idea if you helped me, once Dumbledore gives me the yes to start the club." He winked at the grim professor, like he always did when he finished talking.  

Severus huffed, "I suppose I could help," he muttered.  

* * *

 

The weeks that followed weren't any better than the ones before; Harry Potter had been immersed in more trouble since the incident at the dueling club, given he had been found next to Justin Finch-Fletchley's petrified body, and Nearly Headless Nick hanging spirit as well. Still, Elizabeth, stepping over the fear that invaded every fiber of her being, refused to believe he had something to do with the attacks. The woman made sure Harry constantly knew he had her total support; she had seen the panic in his apple green eyes when they found Mrs. Norris a couple months ago, there was no way he was the one behind everything.  

At last, Christmas was finally there, thanks to the series of unfortunate events that had been occurring at Hogwarts, the holiday strangely felt merrier than ever. Not many students had chosen to stay at the castle, probably too scared that whatever was attacking people wasn't going to take vacations like them. Which was benefactory to the staff, allowing them to take care of less students per teacher, thus they could protect them easier during the winter holidays. 

The few students that stayed over were more than enough to fill the Great Hall with laughs and energy, as they showed off the presents they had received to their friends. From the teachers table, Elizabeth could observe Harry and his friends chatting cheerfully. Suddenly, the kid turned his head towards her, raising a rectangular shaped blue box, and mouthing a thanks for the gift she had sent him. She nodded in response, while secretly fidgeting her fingers under the table, as she waited for Severus to arrive. 

A moment later he entered the room, and she softly laughed at his face. He was the only person in the whole hall that seemed completely out of place and annoyed. The professor sat next to her, as usual, and he began to dive into his food without saying anything at all.  

"Merry Christmas, Severus," she mumbled nervously, placing an elongated, black velvet box decorated with a silk black bow on the table, next to his arm.  

He cocked his head slightly, brows raising as his glance traveled from the gift to the woman beside him. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Severus pushed his plate to the side, taking the gift with delicacy, as if it would break by just looking at it. Without further ado, he slipped the bow off of it, and opened the box to reveal an elegant, silver handled, black quill. The potions master stared at the quill, speechless.  

"It's enchanted," Elizabeth mentioned, after a moment of silence, "it keeps track of any ingredient, step and note you make when experimenting with potions. I recall you once complained about your quills getting ruined when brewing, the silver handle is protected by a spell, to protect it from decaying. Goblin made." She  finished, rubbing her neck shyly. 

"I appreciate it," he replied, in his husky low voice. "I'm afraid I did not got anything for you –" 

"Oh, you don't have to!" The brunette interrupted, softly shaking her hands in front of her. "I wasn't expecting anything, just wanted to thank you for... well, everything. You are the only one I talk to, besides my mum and Dumbledore. I appreciate your friendship," she confessed.  

The raven haired man stiffened his shoulders, not really knowing how to react. His lips parted slowly, yet he took a moment to speak: "Merry Christmas, Ms. Deetz." Severus almost smirked. 

 

Hogwarts Christmas dinner went smoothly, and after escorting all the students to their dormitories, Elizabeth slipped into his most comfortable pajamas and drifted into a deep sleep. A calmness surrounded her room, it was like the events of the prior months hadn't occurred at all. It was the first time in years that she felt at home.  

Loud and persistent knocks on the door snapped her out of her rest, her heart turned inside her chest, as panic started to make presence on her head. She ran towards the entrance of her room without putting neither a robe or slippers on, she quietly prayed it wasn't another attack. The door opened to reveal three kids standing outside her office, one of them wearing a long cloak that covered their whole face and body. Elizabeth sighed as she recognized Harry and Ron, allowing her to deduce the third one had to be Hermione Granger. But before she could say anything, the little girl removed the hood off her head.  

"Why does Ms. Granger have cat ears and a tail?" She asked defeatedly, wondering in what type of shenanigans they had gotten themselves into this time around. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapter updates in less than a week? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
> 
> Please do not get used to this, I wouldn't want to disappoint you if I start to take a while to update again. Lol, I'm sorry. 
> 
> As I often say: feel free to leave any type of comment, my inspiration feeds from your validation, to be quite honest. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you on the next one!


	8. Valentine's Day

It was February fourteenth, and a pair of teachers made their way to breakfast after an early reading session in the library. Elizabeth, curious to know about the Restorative Draught that would be brewed as soon as the Mandrakes matured, soon found herself eagerly invested in potions. Much to her own luck, that was one of the few things Severus could talk about non-stop.  

The students and staff grew calmer and hopeful as the new term began, given there had been no more attacks since the ones against Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. One could easily notice this change in the mood around the castle, especially that morning, as every student chatted and giggled with each other while they also excitedly walked towards the Great Hall.  

"It had been so long since I read about potions, I felt so rusty when trying to remember how to brew a simple Forgetfulness Potion," she giggled, walking next to the dark haired wizard.  

"That's what I usually ask the students to prepare for their 1st year final exam. I expected better from you," Severus articulated his last sentence, making fun of her with his mean ways. 

"Oh, shut it. May I remind you that I teach Muggle Studies, students don't even get to use their wands in my class." The woman retorted, frowning in annoyance. 

"If you dislike it so much, why teach it on the first place?" He asked, noticing the bitterness in her words. 

"Well, when I applied for the teaching job last year, I initially did for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Believe it or not I'm awfully good at it, I even was part of Slughorn's Slug Club when he was head of Slytherin." Her brown eyes shined at the memories of her past, "but it was too late by the time my owl arrived, and it had already been taken by Quirell. Or so we thought it was him."   

"I remember," he said.  

"Since the position was no longer available, I took whatever was left. Which was Muggle Studies, the spot he left behind. Honestly, I'm eagerly waiting for Lockhart to mess it up, so I can steal the spot from him." She smirked, glancing at Severus in complicity. "Although I would also be interested in teaching Alchemy, it's the root of many subjects that I was interested in as a student." 

Before he could reply, both Elizabeth and Severus stopped cold at the entrance of the hall, their dark eyes widening in amazement at what was right in front of them. The always inviting hall, was now tackily decorated, from beginning to end, with voluptous and vibrant pink flowers. From the sky, heart shaped confetti fell over every inch of the room, mixing itself with everybody's food. The couple frowned in disgust, as they walked over to the main table to take their seats, where the rest of the staff shared their same expression.  

Once seated, Elizabeth cringed at the sight of Gilderoy Lockhart, who wore a pink robe that matched the color of the enormous flower decorations. The blonde wizard moved around the place more theatrically than ever, as he asked for the students to quiet down and explained what was to happen during the day.  

"I’m sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion!" He asserted to the students, waving his hands towards the table. "Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion!" Lockhart suggested. 

Severus' face almost deformed with repugnance, a expression that could probably scare the bravest of men. The young brunette seated by his side, snorted while trying not to laugh out loud at it. She won a furious glance from the wizard, who was trying to calm himself. Still, she allowed a couple of giggles to escape, but those stopped when Gilderoy turned to look at her, smiling and winking seductively.  

This time around, Severus was the one who snorted mockingly, while the witch tried to bury herself in her chair, praying it would swallow her up. They watched the DADA professor approach their side of the table, and shove himself in between them.  

"Happy Valentine's day, my beautiful Yankee," he whispered, waving a single rose in front of the brunette.  

She grunted, trying to remove the confetti from her plate and have a meal in peace. Gilderoy awkwardly stood in place, waiting for another response. "I was wondering if you have plans for tonight, someone as attractive as us should have a waiting list of people wanting to date us on Valentine's day. I know I do," he bragged, turning to the grim potions teacher, nudging his arm.  

"I'm busy," she dryly answered, grabbing a pumpkin pastry as she stood, and walking outside of the hall to escape from the annoying casanova.  

 

* * *

 

All through the day, Elizabeth's class was constantly interrupted by dressed up dwarves who would bargain to deliver valentines to the students. Despite it being a bit annoying, it was fun to see the students blush and squirm on their seats whenever they got a message. During the last class of her day yet another dwarf opened the door without knocking.  

"Make it quick, please" she politely requested, tossing the book she was reading for the class over her desk.  

"This is for a Ms. Deetz," the dwarf explained looking around the classroom for a response. 

The brunette turned around, while most of the students murmured to each other. She unconsciously held her breath, fearing of what the message could say or who it could come from. A loud voice on the back on her head told her it was most likely from Lockhart. 

"W–wait!" She exclaimed, wanting to ask the dwarf to come back after class was over. For she didn't wished to be embarrassed in front of her students.  

But even if her plead was loud, the creature didn't cared, and cleared his throat before starting:  

_"_ _Cascades of brunette beauty_    
_A night of lost potential_    
_Dancing in the still darkness_    
_Lost in a flash of ivory_    
_Deep in a pool of brown eyes_    
_It could have been so pretty"_  

Elizabeth buried her face on her hands before the poem started, too nervous of what was coming. But she slowly raised her head towards the dwarf as she heard, blushing slightly, since it wasn't at all what she expected.  

"Who is it from?" The woman shyly asked, over the sound of all the laughs and hoots from the students. Something so nice and polite, couldn't possible come from the always straightforward DADA professor. 

"Not my place to say, it was anonymous, lady" the dwarf replied, already walking outside the door. 

Thankfully, that was the last time her class was interrupted. Her cheeks maintained a rosy color, as she tried to figure out who was the one that sent the poem. When the class was finally over, she sat on her desk defeatedly, allowing her mind to wander around her suspicions. Despite being polite with everybody, there wasn't anybody else that had particularly showed any kind of interest in her but Lockhart. She let out a deep sigh as she coped with the possibility that the message came from him after all, but then a strong invasive thought flashed through her head. 

"Severus..." She whispered, feeling her face heating up and her heart going crazy at the thought of him sending a poem. 

"Elizabeth!" Minerva's strong voice brought her back to earth, causing the young witch to stumble with her chair as she stood up from it. 

"Yes?!" W-what is it?" The brunette stuttered, trying to seem calm. 

"Well, Gilderoy Lockhart planned some type of Valentine's Day reunion for the staff at the teachers lounge, once the students go to bed. Are you going?" She asked, not a single hint of emotion in her face. 

The young teacher couldn't help but laugh at Minerva's expressionless face, "Well, if you ask me with such excitement, how could I possibly say no?" 

The sarcasm in her answer wasn't well received by her mother, and she could tell by the way Minerva tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, but I think I'll pass. I actually feel like going to The Three Broomsticks, instead."  

"Oh, are you going with someone?" The old witch asked, raising a single brow at her. 

"P-please, who could I be going with?" Elizabeth's cheeks started to turn red again, and she tried to avoid her mother's inquisitive gaze while gathering her things to walk towards the teachers lounge. 

"You tell me, I heard you got a Valentine's message. Perhaps you may be going with the one who sent it," she suggested. 

The young woman turned towards the door, inviting the older one to walk with her outside the classroom, "No, since I have no idea who it was from." 

"Has it cross your mind that it might come from Severus, perhaps?"  

Minerva's words made her blush harder than she already was, "Mother, h-how could it possibly b-be from him?" She stuttered, too nervous to look at her in the eyes. 

"Well, who says it couldn't? You two are always together, talking and spending time at the library, you seat next to each other at dinner. Everybody knows that you're _friends,_ " she nudged her arm softly, a playful smile painting on her lips. "Besides, I've noticed you've taken a liking in him." 

"I have not!" Elizabeth immediately retorted, jerking her flushed head to the side so her mother wouldn't see her embarrassed expression.  

"My dear, there's nothing wrong with you liking Severus." The old witch's voice turned soft and comforting. 

"I know, but I do not like Severus!" Elizabeth muttered, walking faster and shoving herself between the students at the hall to escape from her mum.  

As she walked towards the teacher's lounge, she could feel her heart sink on her chest. What if her mother was right? What if the poem came from Severus? She felt a weird, and unexpected flutter on her stomach, something she had not felt in long time. A heavy sigh left her chest as she approached the lounge, and her steps felt heavier. Everything got worse when she saw Severus across the hall already entering the room. _Saying at least thanks wouldn't be too bad_ , she thought, a burst of courage building up on her chest. 

Feeling a tad more secure than a moment ago, she put on her best smile and started to walk decidedly to the lounge. When suddenly, a masculine voice called her name behind her. She slowly turned, not knowing who to expect when not recognizing the voice almost immediately. Her brown eyes lowered when finding no one at first, until down below she met Filius Flitwick's dark eyes staring at her. 

"Professor Flitwick," his name left her mouth with a confused tone. Elizabeth tilted her head slightly to the side. 

The charms professor nodded in response, and his mouth quirked as he nervously mumbled intelligible words. After a moment of trying to speak in vain, he finally took a deep breath before talking, "Yes, I was wondering if you received my poem," he stuttered, his small fingers fidgeting behind his back. "Sorry to be so straight forward but I couldn't help myself." He confessed. 

The young witch confused face became expressionless as realization dawned upon her, the smile she had a second ago had now completely faded. "Oh, it was... from you,"she confirmed, trying not to sound as bad as she felt. 

"Y-yes, I apologize," the man said, his embarrassed features now turning worried, for he thought he had offended her. 

"Oh, do not apologize please, I thought it was very sweet!" The brunette immediately added, upon realizing she had hurt his feelings. A warm and kind smile appeared on her lips, trying to make him feel better. 

"Did you really? I just wanted to give you a little detail, and, if it isn't too rude for me to ask, would you like to accompany me to Professor Lockhart's reunion at the lounge?" He asked, while unconsciously jumping slightly, thanks to his nerves, as he spoke. 

Elizabeth's smile faded a bit, as she felt a strong feeling of disappointment creeping inside of her, after knowing the poem didn't came from Severus. "I'm sorry, but I have other plans," she finally responded, after a moment of silence. "I feel very flattered by your poem, professor. Thank you very much," the woman added, saying goodbye to him and walking to her office instead of the teachers lounge. 

 

* * *

 

A hooded, solitary figure walked among couples and groups of friends through the streets of Hogsmeade. The night was cold and merry, for there was lots of people out celebrating with his loved ones. Having romantic dinners and friendship parties was the way to go, but the figure walked alone with not a single plan on her head but drinking.  

At last, she arrived at The Three Broomsticks, who had more clients that usual but it was still comfortable enough to have drink alone. Elizabeth removed her dark hood, passing a hand over her updo, making sure not too many her brown curls were out of place. She made way to the bar, and seated in a stool at the end of it. Soon enough, the pretty, blonde barmaid of the place approached her. 

"My dear Eli, happy Valentine's Day. What can I get ya' hun? Or are you waiting for your date?" Madam Rosmerta immediately asked, wiggling her eyebrows at the brunette with a playful smile on her lips. 

The young witch couldn't help but laugh, "I'm afraid there's no date to be waiting on. Can I have a Fire Whiskey, please?"  

"What? No date? It's Valentine's Day, honey. What's the matter with ya'?" She inquired, while quickly pouring her drink. 

"I know it is," the brunette said defeatedly, trying not to show her true feelings. "I'm just not interested in anybody at the moment," she lied, taking a big sip of her drink. 

"You keep telling yourself that until your eyes believe ya, sweetheart." The barmaid added before leaving to attend other clients. 

Elizabeth's heart sank in her chest, it was hard to wrap her head around the fact she might be developing feelings for someone else. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before, but that was another story, and one that had ended real bad. She shook her head in an attempt to dismiss all those thoughts, drinking the rest of her drink as quick as she could.  

"Is just this cursed Holliday," she muttered to herself, remembering she had a soft spot for romance and cheesy things. 

Her brown eyes traveled around the place, observing couples snogging and feeling themselves up on the darker corners of the inn. She smiled, finding comfort in being by herself while enjoying a drink. After many refills, she felt her face heating up, she glanced down at the glass of whiskey on her hands, deciding this drink was going to be her last. 

"Your mother said you'd be here." A deep voice startled her, but she decided not to turn when quickly knowing who was approaching her. "Any reason in particular?" Severus asked, sitting next to her without thinking about it twice. 

"Apart running away from Lockhart? None," she lied, carefully playing with her drink. 

He sat beside her in silence for a moment, then she finally looked into his eyes, smiling softly, like always. "I was just leaving," she sighed. 

But before she could stand up, Severus did something he hadn't done before; he placed his hand over her shoulder, and softly pushed her down, stopping her from leaving her seat. "Can I have a Fire Whiskey?" He said to Madam Rosmerta before she could greet him, after he noticed her approaching them. The brunette stared at him dumbfounded, her face heating up even more than before thanks to his touch. "Lockhart's party it's not over yet, but you may go back if you'd like," he explained, thanking the barmaid for the drink and staying quietly in place. 

"That would be ideal for you, wouldn't it? Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll stay to ruin your night," she finally spoke, smiling more widely than ever.  

And so, Valentine's night was spent with Fire Whiskey and a warm chat, alone together in one of the dark corners of the cozy bar. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is on of the few chapters to end in a somehow sweet note. I hope you like it as much as I like writing it!
> 
> Feel free to leave comments! I love comments.
> 
> See you on the next one!


	9. News (Pt. I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING LAST WEEK, PLEASE READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END FOR MORE APOLOGIES.

At last summer arrived, and while she usually stayed at Hogwarts during holidays with her mother, Elizabeth felt it was time for a change. Given the second year she had been teaching there was nerve wracking, she needed fresh air outside of Hogwarts. And so, after the last school term was thankfully over; with Harry Potter yet again defeating a You-Know-Who's attempt to come back, mind you, she adventured to spend her summer holidays in muggle London.  

Everything had gone smooth at first, she adored the moderate weather of the city, and how often the sun hid behind dark clouds. The rainy days were also highly enjoyable for her. Her holiday went by peacefully, and she felt more relaxed than ever, already feeling eager to go back to Hogwarts. Until one day, while taking the tube, she spotted a newspaper that showed a large picture of someone she felt she knew. On the top of the picture it read:  

 _Infamous Killer S_ _et Loose In London._  

Elizabeth held her breath for a long moment, after staring at the picture with detail, she identified the man in the paper; Sirius Black. When she arrived at the room where she was staying, she quickly sent a letter to her mother, asking for explanations and begging her to write back as soon as possible, for she couldn't believe that Sirius had actually escaped, and that it was even published in a muggle newspaper.  

Minerva's answer came quickly enough, even more than the young brunette expected, as if her mother had the letter already set to send. In the letter she explained, that a couple of weeks before the new school term started at Hogwarts, most staff members got the news that Harry Potter had blown up his aunt, fled from his uncle's house, and was now staying at the Leaky Cauldron under orders of none other than Cornelius Fudge, the one and only Minister of Magic. He had also made sure Harry's incident had been completely erased from muggle minds and was never spoken of again. The old witch expressed she felt much calmer when knowing this, since she had been a ball of nerves ever since they heard Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban. After all, what could three muggles that hated Harry could do to protect him?  

The woman stared at her mother's fine writing, while she glanced at the picture of Sirius in the paper over and over again, her stomach clenched inside of her. It was true that he had escaped, and apparently, given Cornelius attempt to keep him close by ordering him to stay in a wizard zone, he was coming for Harry.  

The morning after receiving the letter, she packed her things and made for the Leaky Cauldron without giving it a second thought. 

"Have you seen Harry Potter, Tom?" She immediately asked upon arriving, while the landlord kindly carried her things to her room.   

"Well, of course I have! He's staying here right now," the toothless man answered, as if nobody in the whole wizard world knew The Boy Who Lived was staying there. 

"I know, Tom." The brunette said with a warm smile, "I meant have you seen him today," she rephrased. 

"Ah, yeah. He went to Diagon Alley, he spends most of his days out there, probably buying his school supplies," he suggested, showing her the room and leaving soon after. 

With that bit of information she made for the Alley, wanting to speak with him and see how much he knew about his current situation. There wasn't another thing she had in mind but how Harry would feel if he knew the truth, for it was obvious he really didn't. On her own experience, she had felt profusely heartbroken when learning that Sirius was the one who betrayed the Potters. Elizabeth once considered him family, alongside with Remus Lupin, the Potters, and even their quiet friend, Peter.  

Being deeply into her own thoughts, she wasn't able to notice a raven haired kid carrying a couple of heavy books, as he bumped and stumbled his way to the Leaky Cauldron. Inevitably, he ran into her, making her stumble as well.  

"I'm so sorry!" He cried, reaching out to her in an attempt to help her regain balance.  

"Harry!" The woman cheerfully greeted him, ignoring the fact that she almost fell over. 

The green eyed boy looked up to her, even if he had grown a couple of inches over the summer, she was still slightly taller than him. "Ms. Deetz, what are you doing here?" He asked with a smile, trying to get a good grip of his books.  

"Spent my summer at London, but school almost starts, and I heard you were around, so..." 

"So, you heard about my aunt," he interrupted, a soft hint of embarrassment painted on his face.  

She giggled, nodding her head "I was told," she said, and he couldn't help but feel worse. "But don't worry Harry, nobody's mad at you. Except your relatives, I guess." 

"Yes, they are furious," he confirmed, as they now walked together to the Leaky Cauldron. "Which is why I left and got here."  

"And how are you feeling? I heard you've been spending most of your days out, enjoying yourself, are you?" The brunette asked, anxiously hoping he would say something about Black. 

"I'm good, it feels great to be outside of that place," Harry said grimly. 

Elizabeth glanced at the boy, who had now become quiet, and she pursed her lips in annoyance, for he had talked to her about his life with the Dursley's before. There was no doubt the kid would rather sleep on the street than stay with his relatives, if you asked her, she would too. They approached the end of the Alley, and she knocked on the brick of the wall with her wand, since Harry had his hands busy with his new books and robes.  

"Have you eaten, Harry? You wanna have dinner with me?" Elizabeth asked him with a smile, which caused Harry to blush a little. 

"Of course! I'll just –" he nodded towards his books, trying to explain he wanted to put them away first.  

"Go ahead, I'll meet you at the table." 

The brunette sat alone for a moment, her mind wandering and thinking about everything and nothing at all. A deep concern crushed her chest once again, knowing everything would be better once Harry was at Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's wing. There was no way Sirius was going to be able to break into the castle. 

"Professor Deetz?" Harry's soft voice snapped her out of her thoughts, making her blink repeatedly as she placed her attention on him.  

As always, a soft, kind smile appeared on her lips, allowing Harry to understand why Fred and George did nothing but talk wonders about the young teacher. Surprisingly, he felt flustered with his own thoughts, and he ruffled his hair awkwardly as he sat in front of her, thanking the heavens she couldn't read his mind.  

Their chat was small and entertaining all the way through their meal. Harry felt comfortable around Elizabeth, she had been protective of him while the whole school accused him of being the Heir of Slytherin, the one behind the basilisk attacks during his second year at Hogwarts. It was weird for him to have an adult have his back so blindly and faithfully, to the point where she even helped them with Hermione when she morphed into a cat with polyjuice potion, without asking too many questions. But she made it so easy to hang around with her, anyone could feel comfortable with someone like her, which pulled a thought out of the back of Harry's mind. 

"Miss Deetz, are you and professor Snape friends?" He suddenly asked, halfway through their honey cakes and tea.  

"W-well... I – why do you ask?" the brunette stuttered, her cheeks turning a soft pink, surprised by his sudden question.  

"Everybody notices you're always together. You eat together everyday, and spend time with eachother after classes and during the weekends. Rumor has it you spent Valentine's Day together." The boy explained shyly, trying to understand how such a nice person could stand being around Snape. 

She blushed even harder at his last comment, how did every single thing that happened was heard of by the students all the time? "Is that a weird thing? That he and I are friends?" Elizabeth asked, noticing how the green eyed boy played his honey cake nervously. 

Harry shrugged slightly,  "It just seems a bit odd, giving the kind of person professor Snape is." 

"And what kind of person is he?" She asked, her voice filled with pure curiosity. 

"He's always mean to everybody," he blurted out, knowing very well that if it had been any other teacher he was speaking to, he wouldn't had been able to bring himself to tell the truth. "except if you're in Slytherin, of course. He mocks us and snaps at us when we mess up or don’t do want he wants us to. And even if we do, he always finds a way to make us feel bad. Everybody is scared of him." Harry finished explaining, feeling slightly embarrassed for complaining so bitterly about Snape.  

The brunette shuffled awkwardly on her seat, brows raising in surprise about his confession. While it was no news that Severus was a difficult person to deal with, she never imagined he would be that kind of professor. "Harry... you know there's always a teacher like every time, don't you think you might be exaggerating a wee bit?" she tried to defend him, much to Harry's disappointment.  

"Look dear, I know professor Snape may seem harsh and mean, but maybe there's more to him than we think." The witch started talking again once she saw Harry become quiet. "I just... Life is strange, Harry. And I've learned that people's hearts aren't always black or white, but a range of colors and shades we never fully see. Even the most amazing, trustworthy friend can be a deceiver and a betrayer," she explained, an enormous sadness creeping and filling up her brown eyes. 

"Did you had a friend like that, Miss Deetz?" The green eyed kid asked, feeling a tad concerned about how grim her countenance had turned. 

"I did...." She confessed after a moment of silence, all the memories of her life with the Potters, Sirius and Remus palpitating on her head.  

"And what happened to him?" 

Elizabeth hesitated, thinking it was the perfect moment to talk to Harry about Sirius. "I don't know," she lied, realizing Harry was only thirteen, and he had more than enough bad relatives to feel miserable about. "I guess he just disappeared. People are twats, they all are." 

And with that, their conversation was over. An awkward silence was momentarily felt, but it soon faded away, as the both looked at each other in the eyes and started laughing. They didn't knew exactly what was so funny, and they never would.  

 _They better catch him soon_ , Elizabeth thought, as she watched Harry laugh innocently, completely unaware of the current situation he was in. The brunette hoped it wasn't too much to ask that Harry could have a happy, peaceful life. Nobody deserved to have the kind of childhood he was having. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm so sorry I fucked up lmao.
> 
> Bear with me.... This chapter is short since is just the half of it, the reason I only posted a half is because I know that I didn't updated last week, and since I knew I wasn't going to be able to, I decided to write a post on my tumblr to let you guys know the reasons behind it. Today, as I was checking the fic to fix any spelling mistakes (as I often do), I realized I never linked you guys to my tumblr. I'm such an idiot I swear to God.
> 
> So here you have it, guys http://nobodys-baby-now.tumblr.com/tagged/what%20if that's the URL of the tag (what if) on my blog where I'll be posting any updates about this fanfiction. I may even start to post fan art if I feel brave enough. 
> 
> If any of you have a tumblr and wish to talk to me (for some reason) feel free to send me asks. Please check it since, from now on, whenever I feel there won't be an update soon, be 100% sure I'll post any news over there, so you know that I didn't just let it die.
> 
> So that was it, thank you so much for your patience, for keeping up with me and this fan fiction as well, and you're more than welcome to complain about anything you like in the comment section or my ask box at my tumblr. I deserve it, lmao.
> 
> I'll try to update the second part of this chapter before the week ends, or ASAP.
> 
> See you all in the next one!!


	10. News (Pt. II)

Late.  

It was the only way to describe her current situation, as she rushed through the hallways of the castle to the Great Hall, where all of the students were about to arrive for their Start-of-Term feast and some of them, their Sorting ceremony. She had forgotten she was expected to arrive before the students got to the castle, so all the teachers were already at the main table of the Hall.   

Elizabeth's brown locks started to fall from her messy updo as she tried to walk faster, hoping that the older students hadn't arrived to the castle already. At the same time, a light haired man also walked fast to arrive to the feast early. He had taken the Hogwarts Express back for unknown reasons, but he could easily apparate closer to the castle instead of having to ride with the thestrals.   

The newest staff member admired every corner of the castle as he walked, deeply inhaling the scent from the feast that he had so joyfully enjoyed many years ago with his three best friends when he they were kids. Suddenly, a woman with long, brown, curly hair caught his attention as she tried her best to tame her curls up in a bun. His heart skipped a beat, recognizing the figure who was about to walk side to side with him to the Great Hall.  

"Need help with that mess?" He asked, leaning closer to her with curiosity to see her face a little better.    

The witch jumped slightly, feeling startled when a calm, soothing voice offered to help. "Remus!" She chirped, upon realizing who was the person that was trying to look in her eyes, through the mess of her hair. Her heart pumped excitedly in her chest.  

There was a second of doubt between them, as they stared at each other dumbfoundedly examining the person in front of them. Elizabeth could observe how Remus features had become stronger and masculine, but his green eyes still reflected the calmness and innocence they did when he was a teenager. His face still had the signature scars he carried since they met, but he now had a couple more which she had not seen before, making her feel uneasy when remembering her friend's curse. 

Meanwhile, Remus observed her as well. The fourteen year-old girl that he met a little after graduating from Hogwarts, now being 28 years old, stood in front of him with a perplexed look on her shiny, brown eyes. Her chocolate brown curls were now longer, and more wild than ever. She was taller than before, but not as much as him, and her figure was curvy and well defined under her tailored suit. They had now become adults, in the eyes of the other.  

"Eli, I..." he stuttered, as he approached her to try and greet her better, but before he could do anything else, the brunette jumped into his arms without hesitation.  

Remus wrapped his arms around her, a smile spreading on his lips immediately after. "It's been so long," she said, without letting him go. "I've missed you a lot." 

"I've missed you too," he replied, warmly caressing her back.  

He put her down softly, neither of them letting go of each other's hands. "What are you doing here? Are you teaching?" The brunette asked, finally able to articulate more words. 

"Yes, I am. As of right now, you're looking at the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Remus announced almost proudly. "Dumbledore was my savior, I really needed the job. You know how things are."  

She tried her best to smirk, but it was hard since she had no idea how things were. Remus carried a big burden, that wasn't handled very humanly when he was a student at Hogwarts, according to James and the others. Thankfully, they now had a potion that could help him with his situation, but that didn't made up for all the years he suffered because of the curse. And she did knew that.  

"Congratulations, and I hate you for taking the position I've been aiming to get for three years now!" Elizabeth complained, while still having a kind smile on her face. _Severus will be so pissed._ She thought, trying not to laugh too much.  

They started to walk side by side to the hall, that wasn't too far out now. It felt like no time had passed at all between them, but each had significantly changed, and they were wasting no time on asking about their life's after they lost contact for a couple of years. 

"So, how was America?" He asked, after she was finally able to put her hair up in a messy bun.  

"Ah, you know how it is..." She railed off, attempting to find a way to change the subject. 

The light haired man slightly raised his brows, confused by her words "Well, no. I actually don't, never been there, Eli." His reply was polite with a hint of sass, as he often spoke.  

A soft grunt left her chest, trying to find the correct words that would avoid him showering her with questions she surely wasn't going to enjoy answering. "It's a long story, Remus." The brunette sighed, "I'm sure we will have plenty of time to talk about it." 

He glared at her, a sign of concern on his tired features. "I met Harry on the train," he mentioned, deciding it was best to let her talk when she wished. 

The woman, who was attempting to avoid his eyes, snapped her head towards him as a smile started appearing on her tinted red lips. "And...?"  

"He looks exactly like James... but he has Lily's eyes." They had unconsciously stopped walking, for he had closed his eyes, struggling to continue. "It was so strange. I fell asleep on the train, and when I opened my eyes, I saw James."  

"Remus," she came close to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him.  

"Do you know him? Harry, I mean," he asked, trying to give her a sincere smile. 

"I do, I'm not gonna lie, it was hard to approach him at first. Mum would pester me about it often, it wasn't until my first year here was over that I had the guts to talk to him. He's a really sweet boy, we had dinner a couple weeks ago at the Leaky Cauldron," Elizabeth explained, suddenly remembering a certain fact that she could not bring herself to tell Harry that same day. 

"I hope to be able to talk to him as well, eventually," Remus said nervously, but he frowned when he noticed the witch turning stiff. "Eli, are you alright?" 

"Remus... Si-Sirius," she stuttered, feeling a shiver running through her back. 

His green eyes widened, and he found himself holding his breath without thinking about it. "I know," he breathed. 

They both remained quiet, looking deeply into each other's eyes for a strong minute. It was evident they were trying to come up with something else to say. Each knew that, if there was someone who understood the horrible betrayal they felt, it was the person standing with them in the enormous hallway of the castle.  

The hostile quietness of the hallway was suddenly interrupted by the faint echo of chatter and laughs, among other noises, as the students of Hogwarts made their way through the bridge of the castle, anxiously walking towards their welcoming feast.  

"Shit, we better go, it's late!" The young woman was finally able to speak, taking Remus by the hand and running to the Great Hall before the students could reach them. 

The new DADA teacher squeezed her hand, making her turn to him momentaneously. "Everything it's going to be alright." He assured, just as she was about to open the door to the Great Hall.  

Elizabeth nodded softly, and finally opened the door, rushing him to walk towards their seats. "Sorry we are late," she quickly apologized, to which Dumbledore answered by limiting himself to smile at them kindly, as he often did. The young witch noticed the seat next to her mother's was now taken by Hagrid, which had forced Severus to seat on the opposite side of the table, right next to Dumbledore. Next to him, there were two conveniently empty spots.   

But as they approached the table, and she smiled warmly at Severus, she noticed the potions teacher face deform with bitterness. His dark brown eyes almost pierced through her head, making her feel a bit uncomfortable. The brunette couldn't help but wonder what on earth had happened to him in the couple of hours that had passed since they last seen each other that same afternoon.  

"Severus?" She whispered his name as she took her seat next to him, but he remained quiet, his eyes focused on the entrance of the room, waiting to the students to arrive. "Severus, is everything okay?" Elizabeth asked once again, placing her hand on top of his arm, trying to make him focus his attention on her. 

The potions master slowly, but firmly, removed his arm from her grasp, and glared at the person beside her for a second, before pursing his lips in anger and deciding to not talk to her the rest of the evening. More confused than ever, she turned her head to look at Remus, who seemed to act as if he hadn't seen what just happened between them, his green eyes traveling all over the Great Hall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late, a word which here means "the author took several weeks to update her fanfiction because she sucks ass". 
> 
> Sorry, again. And I'm sorry to say I will be on vacation the next couple of weeks and I won't have a computer available. I actually had someone asked me if I was going to keep working on it, so I tried my best to update before tomorrow because I leave tomorrow, and I wanted you all to see this story ain't dead nor abandoned!!! I have no plans at all to let this story die, it is my goal to finish it. 
> 
> Hopefully I will have a chance to be around a computer and be able to update soon, but I will not make any promises since this story is getting complicated and I need to get my shit together, need to connect many chapters or some plots won't work at all. 
> 
> Anyways remember to reach me via tumblr (http://nobodys-baby-now.tumblr.com) if you wish to, and check the tag "what if"  
> (http://nobodys-baby-now.tumblr.com/tagged/what-if) for any news in case anything happens. Sorry again for being so late and I hope that you enjoyed this mediocre chapter lmao
> 
> Love you all, thanks for keeping up with me! See you in the next one!


	11. Frustration

Everything was confusing.  

Was she ever going to have a break while teaching at Hogwarts? Absolutely- _freaking_ -not. 

Having Remus teaching in the same school as her, gave Elizabeth a slight thread of hope that maybe, only maybe, this year was going to be quieter. Putting aside the fact that Sirius was loose, and had just recently broke into the school. But, she was wrong, giving the fact that the scowl on Severus face when taking her seat between him and Remus the very first day of school was only the beginning of her problems.  

Since that day, Severus dedicated himself to avoid her in the most noticeable ways possible. He made sure she realized his intentions, seating as far from her as he could on the teachers table, and stopping his visits to the teacher's lounge on the first day of classes. There were even times whenever they ran into each other on the hallways, where the dark-haired teacher would make an abrupt turn on his heels and storm to the opposite end of the hallway. His behavior was even worse than when she first started working at Hogwarts and they didn’t get along at all.  

The other source of her frustration, was Remus himself. As much as they were close friends, he was getting on her nerves as well. Elizabeth knew something was up between Remus and Severus, but every single time she tried to ask him about it, her old friend would interrupt her to talk about their lives, or just simply ignore her like she didn't even existed.  

After almost two months of getting the cold shoulder by both professors, this was starting to get ridiculous, but her mind was too busy worrying about Harry, Sirius, and the assignments she had to grade, to find a way to fix the mess she felt herself in. All of her problems were piling up on top of each other. Leaning against the rails on the Astronomy tower, she wondered if there was a way to fake her own death without hurting her mother on the process.  

"Eli," Minerva's strong voice snapped her out of her thoughts, making her jump in her own spot. "Take it easy, dear. It's just me." The older witch raised a single brow, silently judging her daughter's poor composure.  

"I'm sorry, mum. My mind was somewhere else," the brunette apologized, trying to gift her mother a calm smile.  

"I can tell, may I ask where it is?" She joined her, watching her adoringly through her squared glasses.  

Elizabeth grimaced, hesitating about coming forward to her mother. It wasn't that she didn't trust her, it was more that she couldn't decide what to talk about first. "I guess it's all over the place," she began explaining, her tired brown eyes lost on the school grounds down below. "We haven't heard news from Black since he allegedly entered the castle, I'm terrified about that." 

The older witch placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder, hoping to ease her nerves with her touch as she did when she was just a kid. "Harry is safe, we have him under our wing." She assured, squeezing her shoulder tightly.  

"That's not the only thing I'm worried about," her eyes darted to her mother's green one's. "Are we ever going to tell him the truth? That he's–" 

"It is not our truth to tell," Minerva interrupted her, glancing around them to make sure no one was listening. "Although some of us believe it's better if it remains a secret." 

"Mother, no. We have to tell him, we can't do this to Harry." Elizabeth retorted, shooting her a look of anger and disbelief. "He has to know." 

"What for, Elizabeth? He's a kid," she snapped. "When he was eleven he tried to singlehandedly stop whoever was trying to steal the Philosopher's stone. What do you think he is going to do when he finds out his parents were given away by his own godfather?"  

Elizabeth bit her tongue, knowing deep inside that her mother was right. As much as she hated having to keep things from Harry, she understood he was at a sensitive place, and it didn't help much the kid had proven to be impulsive and emotionally driven most of the time.  

"I'm sorry," she muttered, there was nothing else she could say. 

"Why don't you try to talk about this to Lupin?" Minerva suggested, once she had calmed down. "I feel you could understand each other better, even if he agrees or not with you." 

Brown met green when Elizabeth's tired eyes turned to her mother's as she nodded, but her nods where quickly interrupted as she remembered the current situation she was in with Remus. "I don't think that's an option at the moment," she mumbled, visually upset. 

Minerva stood in silence, her brows arching as she waited for the brunette to explain. "Remus has been avoiding any type of serious talk with me. It's driving me insane." 

"Do you have any idea why?" She inquired, brows knitting in confusion.  

"It may have something to do with Severus, who also plays a role in my current problems." A frustrated sigh left her chest, it felt good to have someone to talk about it.  

"I did happen to notice you haven't been spending time around Severus anymore." The witch failed to repress a smirk before continuing, "what happened with him?" 

"Honestly, I have no idea. He's been avoiding me since the year started," she spat, realizing how annoyed she really felt by the potions professor actions. But before allowing her mother say anything else, a thought sparked at the back of her head, the words of a certain someone hammering her brain. "Mum, have you ever had any complains about him?"  

Her green eyes widened, taking a moment before answering: "I have, I had one from you when you met him."  

"No, I mean from students." Elizabeth couldn't help laughing, remembering her firsts encounters with the dark-haired man.  

"Of course, it is very known that Severus tends to be awfully hard on students. I myself have intervened whenever he starts acting harsh," she explained. 

Silence crept upon them, while the younger witch tried to get all the throbbing thoughts on her brain in order. Internal peace never looked so unattainable as it did in that very afternoon shared with her mother.

 

* * *

 

Elizabeth tiredly walked through the halls of the castle, making her way from her office to the library, where she hoped she will find something to read, in order to help her from thinking about everything she had going on. So far, her attempts of talking to either Remus or Severus had failed, and she was honestly too tired to try harder. On one side, full moon was approaching, and she knew better than to pester Remus that time of the month. She knew how hard it was on her friend, making it impossible to her to step up and confront him about her problems. 

On the other, Severus seemed to disappear every day after his classes, only making appearances on the Great Hall when it was time to eat. Their teaching schedules making it impossible for her to wait for him outside his classroom.  

That day, however, life wanted to toy with her.  

As she approached the end of the hall, she could notice a group of students somewhat gathered around a tall, dark figure, who she immediately recognized to be Severus. The conversation between him and a second person she couldn't see became easier to listen. Being a couple of steps away from the scene, she was able to listen the potions professor was almost yelling berating comments to the stranger.  

Without a word, she made her way between the students, finally meeting a scared Neville Longbottom in front of him. His head was hung low, and his face was red from embarrassment, he trembled slightly as Severus kept going about how useless he was. 

"Professor Snape." She tried to make him stop, unsurprisingly, he didn't even acknowledge her.  

"I hope you are at least brilliant enough to realize you have detention, Mr. Longbottom. I will try to make you do something that isn't too hard for your slow brain," he spat.  

"Professor Snape," she called him once again, only to be answered by his annoyed glare, and ignored the moment after to keep on yelling to Neville. 

Suddenly, she couldn't take it anymore, all the bottled-up emotions she had been dealing with imploded inside of her, and her vision focused alone on Severus as something on her stomach scratched its way out of her. "Severus, that's enough! You have to stop it with the Longbottom kid, what is your problem?!" Elizabeth finally snapped, interrupting the dark-haired man in the middle of his bullying session.  

The potions teacher turned to glare at her, his dark eyes filled with amusement. She had never talked to him like that. He raised a single brow, waiting for her to say something else, for it was evident she wasn't done. 

"He is a kid, and you're an adult. In addition to that, you're his teacher. The reason why he doesn't achieve the perfection that you look for is because he's a student, and that's exactly why he's here: because he came to learn," she articulated, her face turning red in anger, both hands clenched in fists on the sides of her body. "I cannot believe you, Severus. When I heard the students were scared of you, I thought they were being dramatic. But it's evident that they weren't, you cannot be venting your frustrations with your own students. They are  _kids_ , Severus."  

Without them realizing, most students that were walking around them, had stopped to witness the young woman rant at the infamous potions teacher. They stood around them with their mouths opened in agape, and eyes wide open as well. Never in their whole academic life, they thought someone was capable of stepping up to the bat of the dungeons, let alone in the middle of the hallway. 

"I really cannot believe this. You are a prick–!" 

"Elizabeth!" Another strong voice was suddenly heard. 

The brunette jerked her head towards the voice, her rage-filled, brown eyes immediately meeting Remus calm, green ones. The light-haired man gave her a knowingly look, which made her look around and realize she was making a scene in front of the whole school. But while most of the students silently encouraged her to keep going, the witch took a deep breath in, deciding it was better to stop. 

"To your dorm, Longbottom," she barked to the child, whilst turning on her heels and storming away. 

Severus stood in place while Neville ran away, transfixed by what had happened, he never stopped looking at the woman as she left him by himself. He observed how she even walked past Lupin, who attempted to place an arm on her shoulders and talk to her, only to have her slap his hand away from her. The DADA professor stared back at the Potions one, sighing heavily and softly shrugging as he also left the place.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miss me?  
> See you on the next one!


	12. O Holy Night

Since her meltdown against Severus, Elizabeth began to avoid both him, and Remus. Going so far as to skipping meals, just so she wouldn't have to look at them at all. And, while it was mostly rage that had driven her actions, she couldn't deny embarrassment was eating her insides.

Despite receiving tons of gifts from students the next day she snapped at Severus, she knew what she did was beyond inappropriate.

Soon enough, there wasn't a single place where she couldn't feel someone's eyes piercing her back, or catch someone murmuring something about her.

Professors, students, paintings and ghosts; everybody knew what had happened. It was mortifying to walk around the castle without having someone throwing a knowingly glance at her.  

Thankfully, Christmas was right around the corner, meaning Hogwarts would most likely empty up, making it easier for her to spend time around the place without having to deal with anybody talking behind her back.

Elizabeth knew she couldn't skip Christmas dinner. But, since there were only a handful of students and teachers, that'd stayed in the castle, she figured she could manage. Still, both Remus and Severus would be there, which didn't help calm her nerves at all.

She focused on the sound of her heels against the frozen snow, as she walked through the fields of Hogwarts. The million thoughts on her mind seemed to settle whenever she breathed in the cold winter breeze.

Her moment of peace was disrupted however, upon running into a familiar face.

"Harry," she called him cheerfully, realizing it had been a while since she'd last seen him.

Instead of giving her a verbal response, he simply nodded his head and kept walking, seemingly trying to get away from her.

"Harry," the brunette called him again, walking faster to catch up with him. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked once she was walking by his side.

The green-eyed kid simply stared at her, allowing her to realize he looked terribly tired, and also visibly upset. "Nothing," he lied, and she could tell.

"You sure don't look like nothing's happening," she pressed.  

He sighed, rolling his eyes as he kept walking. "Just the usual. When I'm not being hunt down by Voldemort, I'm being hunted by my own godfather," Harry spat, bitterly.

Elizabeth almost tripped with her own feet at his words, licking her lips nervously as she continued to walk next to him. "You know," she affirmed, her brain formulating nothing better than that.

"Why didn't you tell me, Professor Deetz?" Harry stopped walking, now looking at directly into her eyes. “You were friends with my parents, you knew about him.”

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I– I wanted to, I really did." She swore, her fingers fidgeting with the buttons on her coat.  

"Did you ever try to?"  

Her eyes fell, too tired to come up with excuses. "Not at first, I thought that keeping you from that would spare you from any pain may be feeling now. And, when I did try, I couldn't bring myself to it," Elizabeth confessed defeatedly. "I really wanted to tell you, you deserved to know from the beginning."

Harry sighed deeply, his furrowed brow relaxing as he kept his thoughts to himself. He was still mad, of course, but she seemed truly sorry. Her sad expression caused him to relax, and his green eyes wandered around the place.  

"I understand," he finally muttered.

A heavy weight fell of her shoulders at his words, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything, Harry. I promise not to keep anything from you again."

"I trust you," he replied instantly, as they began to walk together around the castle.

The witch simply smiled in response, feeling better know that Harry knew the truth. Now, she would know to take better care of him, since it was going to be likely he could search for Sirius. For the moment, it didn't seem appropriate to talk about it.

After sharing a comfortable silence, his green eyes turned to her, his mouth opened as he tried to accommodate what he wanted to say.

"Ms. Deetz, Neville asked me to thank you for defending him the other day." Harry noticed her cheeks turning a deep red, and her eyes widening as she looked at him.  

She cleared her throat before responding, clenching her fists in embarrassment. "I, uh... That's nice." Just when she'd forgotten about that incident, someone had to remind her of it.

"You see, I trust you because you believe in me," the kid's soft voice caused her to place her attention back to him. "You're one of the few people that has trusted me since we met. I know I shouldn't have talked about professor Snape badly, but you believed me." His tone was calm and shy, the crimson of his sweater now matched the color of his cheeks. "I'm sorry that it came to that, I know he's your friend."

"Don't worry about it, Harry. It wasn't your fault I yelled at professor Snape." She sighed, once again feeling mortified by the whole situation. "We're adults, we'll manage," she said, more to herself than anybody else.

* * *

 

The very next morning she woke up to the sound of someone softly knocking on her door. She grunted in response, but figured it was time to get up anyway. Being Christmas morning meant her mother was most likely the one at the other side of the door.

However, surprise washed over her when she found Remus standing outside her chambers. He held a small box, with a bow in it, and offered to her with a small smirk on his face.

"Merry Christmas, Eli."

She tilted her head to the side, as a hot blush began to make its way to her cheeks. Taking the box from him, she stepped away from the entrance, silently inviting him in.

Remus walked inside with long, slow steps, glancing around the place. He then turned to her, the same smile still pulling his lips. Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, but he held a hand in the air.

"No more drama, we promised," he reminded her.  

His tone was both sweet and soothing, it reminded her of when they were younger. Remus often was the one who could be able to make the Order relax when things turned dark.

Without another word, she jumped into his arms, to which he responded by immediately taking her in.   

"I'm sorry," she mumbled against his chest.

"I'm sorry, too,” Remus quickly replied, hiding his face on the crook of her neck.

They shared a comfortable silence for a moment, still holding each other close. Elizabeth was the one to finally move away, a serious look painting over her features.

“Remus, if we don’t want anymore drama. I need to know the truth,” she said firmly, watching how his lips pressed into a thin line. “You are my friend, but so is Severus.”

“I know,” he muttered, a million thoughts flashing through his mind.

“It’s clear something’s going on between you two, and it isn’t good.”

He smiled ever so slightly, somewhat ashamed as he did so. Remus sighed as his gaze fell from her eyes to the floor, where it stayed as he kept thinking.

“Will you tell me? Severus isn’t talking to me, I doubt he would,” Elizabeth requested, crossing her arms over her chest, her brown eyes boring into him.

The DADA professor took another deep breath before replying, and his shoulders fell as he tried to relieve some tension off of them. His light green eyes met hers again, she was standing still, anxiously waiting for him so say something, anything.

He knew it was time, although it wasn’t something he particularly wished to talk about. “I will,” he promised, smiling as naturally as he could.

He saw her relaxing right away, and fidget with the small gift he’d brought her. “Tonight, after dinner?” She proposed, still somewhat nervous about the situation.  
“I can’t, Eli. It’s --”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry,” she immediately understood, and barely glanced towards her window to watch the sun over the hills.

“That’s why I came this early, I have to get going now. I just couldn't spend this night knowing we weren’t in a good place,” Remus explained, curiously pacing around her room.

The brunette smiled at his words, and simply nodded in response, watching him walking towards her door. He gripped the handle tightly, and stood still for a moment, his back turned to her. Remus looked at her over his shoulder, a hesitant aura all around him.

After a moment he turned towards her, and watched her for a long second. “Merry Christmas, Eli,” he finally said, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead.

Elizabeth smiled at his gesture, internally wishing the rest of her holiday would be as calm as it’d begun.

“Merry Christmas, Remus.”

* * *

 She walked slow and hesitant steps towards the Great Hall, already smelling the feast the closer she came to the room. The door was barely open, and she had to push it to peek around before walking inside.

Her surprise was grand, upon seeing the hall was pretty much empty, except for a single table in the middle. Elizabeth saw both professors and students seated in the same table, including Dumbledore himself.

A smile began to pull her lips, but it soon started to fade upon meeting Severus piercing, dark eyes. His expression was blank, but he never stopped staring at her.  

“Evening, Miss Deetz,” Dumbledore’s soft voice quickly made her moved her attention to him. “Merry Christmas.” He smiled fondly.

The rest of the professors and students greeted her as well, mumbling and nodding their greetings. She was thankful that an empty seat was right next to her mother, who simply patted her arm with a smile as she sat.

“Is this all of us?” She asked to her mother, noticing less than 10 people on the table.  

“Potter, Weasley and Granger should be arriving any time now,” Minerva responded, and then suddenly turning slightly annoyed. “And Sybil,” she added.

Elizabeth’s lips formed a small ‘o’ at her mother’s words, knowing well the divination professor seemed to be one of the only people capable of making her lose her calm. It wasn’t that she disliked her, but Minerva McGonagall was the least skeptical person you could meet in your entire life.

Dinner went as well as it could, despite Trelawney’s sudden outburst when she claimed someone was to die from standing from the table. It truly felt like a family dinner, minus the students who were dumbfounded and nervous about having the headmaster seated at arm’s length from them.

Before the night was over, Severus finally found an excuse to leave the table. Elizabeth knew well he had to go give Remus his potion, and she felt the urge of doing something about it.

It was Christmas, after all.

No long after he stood and left, she excused herself from the table and anxiously made her way to his office. Now standing at front of his door, she took a deep breath in before daring to knock.

When she raised her hand to do so, the door swung open, revealing a much surprised Severus at the other side of it. His soft shocked expression soon turned into a scowl, but he stood still in front of her.

“Ms. Deetz,” he muttered, his voice hoarse and dark.

Elizabeth swallowed a knot that had formed on her throat, suddenly unable to come up with something to say. It wasn’t as if she actually knew what to say, anyway.

“Severus.” She felt dumb, as his name rolled out of her tongue she couldn't find anything else on her mind to say.

The grim silence that fell between them didn’t help at all. The brunette felt tense, and almost sick, not to mention completely embarrassed. When noticing she wouldn’t say a thing, he simply walked by her and towards his destination.

“I don’t regret it,” she snapped, making Severus stop abruptly in his tracks.

He barely turned to see her, a deep, equally confused and annoyed frown knitting his brows. Elizabeth saw his jaw clenching, and his eyes squinting as he tried to understand what she attempted to say.

“I don’t regret saying what I said about your attitude towards the students,” the brunette clarified, the tone in her voice more loud and less shaky. “Your traits are often mean and inappropriate.”

He stared at her harder, visibly growing irritated by her words. Still, he looked incredibly taken aback, which was why he couldn’t say a word.

“Then again, so was I,” Elizabeth added, taking advantage of his silence. “And for that I do apologize. I was completely out of line, and I should’ve address it with you privately. I’m sorry, Severus.”

The dark-haired men eyes still locked with hers, harsh and almost menacing, but her posture remained firm and confident. It didn’t take him long to notice it was all she was going to say.

Finally, Severus huffed, in a way that made her feel as if he was trying to repress a bitter chuckle. He took a deep breath in, and nodded a single time.

“Next time, you know where my office is, if you wish to act like a student again.” He said calmly, simply turning on his heel and walking away. “Good night, Ms. Deetz.”

Elizabeth almost lost it at his reply, but the softness of his voice refrained her from doing so. He’d actually talked to her, after over three months of nothing but silence.

Despite his answer being somewhat mean, as they often were, it didn’t sound anywhere near as harmful as he usually intended them to be.

It wasn’t the best case scenario she’d pictured, but she felt was progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Slams fist on the table* I REFUSE TO LET THIS STORY DIE.
> 
> Sorry for not uploading in months, but I hit a wall with this one. I am not planning of letting it die, it's my goal to finish writing this fic. IT'S MY BABY.
> 
> I spent these past three days reading and watching Harry Potter, hence here's this chapter for you.
> 
> We still have a long way to go, and the Supernatural fandom sucked me back in, so I'm gonna ask for patience between updates. 
> 
> Like always, thank you for following this story, I love it more than you guys can imagine.
> 
> See you in the next one!


End file.
